Jace Wayland Must Die!
by smileysgoboing
Summary: John Tucker Must Die, MI Style. Schemes are planned, hearts are broken and backs are stabbed when shy Clary Fray meets Jace Wayland, golden boy of the Institution of New York - and notorious player. FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Loosely based off the movie and story _Fang Venom Must Die._ Anyone can use the plot if they want.**

"Clary? Clary!" Jocelyn Fray called frantically from the other side of the room. "Do I look okay, honey?" Jocelyn stood in front of the huge mirror, stunning in a simple white dress, a bow tied around her waist. Her hair was twisted into an elegant, yet messy bun, artful strands framing her beautiful face. A sheer veil hung from her hair, glittering with little stars.

"Oh, Mom, you look beautiful," 15-year-old Clarissa Fray whispered. She hurried to join her mother in front of the mirror. Clary Fray resembled her mother as much as her brother resembled her father –which is, to say, a lot. They shared the same red-orange hair and the same green eyes – both tearing up in the moment.

Music began to drift softly into their room. "Oh no!" Jocelyn panicked again. "It's almost time, Clary. What if Luke doesn't want me? What if he doesn't love me?" The pre-marital jitters had hit Jocelyn hard, but Clary was always there to reassure her.

"Don't worry," Clary said. "Luke loves you. You love him. You are getting married. You will not back out. You'll be fine," she added, after seeing her mother's frightened expression. "Anyway, it's time for me to go. You are not to back out. Understand?"

Jocelyn nodded quietly. Clary gave her mother one last hug, and a huge smile grew on her face. Her mother was getting married! Clary thought as she waltzed down the aisle, holding a small bouquet of lilies. The whole church was perfumed with the scent of them.

Small whispers broke out as the audience stood, and turned to watch the bride. Jocelyn step-walked down the aisle, smiling nervously until she spotted Luke. Then she grinned, and walked a little bit faster. Luke, Clary noticed, had strained smile on and had started to fidget. She giggled quietly.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to..." the priest droned on. This was the boring part of the wedding ceremony. Thankfully, they were coming to the good part.

"I, Luke Matthew Garroway, take you, Jocelyn Fray, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us." He gave a shaky smile.

Jocelyn beamed back. "And I, Jocelyn Marie Fray take you, Luke Garroway, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us."

The couple continued smiling as the ceremony continued, until the priest spoke the words.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Luke cautiously leaned forward, and pecked her on the lips. Then they both laughed quietly, and the guests cheered.

Clary sought her parents, and found them talking to Jonathon. Luke was gazing adoringly at Jocelyn, and Jocelyn was grinning wildly at everyone.

"Congratulations, guys!" Clary hugged them.

Jocelyn laughed and said, "A new life, Clary! We're moving to New York!" Clary frowned a little. This had been the downfall of getting a new stepfather – moving away from her cosy apartment in Albany to a new life in New York.

"Oooh, the car should be here soon," Jocelyn interrupted Clary's thoughts. "We'll see you in a few weeks, 'kay? Love you!" She blew kisses at her daughter, and hurried towards the entrance.

"See you around, Luke," Clary smiled. "Enjoy your honeymoon." And with a final hug, he followed his wife.

"Bye Clary! Bye Jonathon!" The couple waved wildly at their children, and then departed.

"Bye, Mom," Clary said. And then, for the first time in a long while – "Bye, Dad."

* * *

_3 weeks later_

The speeding landscape was new, and somehow familiar, separated only by a thin sheet of glass. The girl laid her head against the window, sighing quietly again.

Clary had a small family, consisting of her mother Jocelyn and her 17 year old brother Jonathon Morgenstern. Once they had had a father – Valentine Morgenstern. He had been killed in war when Clary was 4. 12 years later, and Clary still missed her father. She would always miss him.

But now their small family had expanded when Jocelyn had married a man called Luke Garroway – an old family friend living in New York. Luke always joked around about how he had loved Jocelyn since they were children, but everyone knew it was true. Luke was a good man – the best stepfather anyone could ever want.

But moving back to New York seemed a bit unnecessary. Why couldn't Luke just move in with them? Clary thought.

"Clary? Clary!" Jocelyn smiled down at her daughter. "We're here." And right on cue, they pulled up at their new home. And as much as Clary wanted to hate this new place, she couldn't. It was perfect. Still a little dazed, Clary dragged her suitcase into the house, admiring the familiar furniture. They had stayed here once for a holiday, and Jocelyn had fallen in love with New York.

"Clary?" Luke beckoned. "This is your room." He gestured for her to go in, all the while beaming hopefully. Clary pasted a weak smile on, and looked at her new room. It was adorable – a cosy room, decorated with all her favourite colours of blue and green. It was so comforting, to see touches of her old room in this new life, and Clary had to admit Luke had done a great job making them feel welcome. _Ok. Scratch that._ Luke had done a _fantastic _job – there was even an extra room for all her art supplies.

She bounded out of her room and hugged Luke. "Thank you, thank you SO MUCH!" Clary shrieked. "It's AWESOME!"

Relieved, Luke chuckled and Jocelyn smiled. "See, I told you she would like it," Jocelyn chided. "See, Clary? You can start over again. I'm sure no one will remember you guys from, um, _back then._ You'll be fine at school tomorrow."

Clary froze. "What?" Jonathon's deep voice thundered from his room. "Tomorrow? WE just got here, Mom." He stomped out and glared accusingly at Jocelyn and Luke.

"I'm sorry, you guys," Jocelyn began. "But the school can't make exceptions for you guys. All they know is that you're going. No special treatment."

"We enrolled you the moment your mother agreed to move here," Luke continued.

Clary and Jonathon groaned. _School TOMRROW?_


	2. First Day

Chapter 2

**I'm only going to write up to the part where they figure out Jace is a cheater. But if people like it, then I might continue. Enjoy.**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!BEE- _

"Bleeeeeh." Clary groaned and turned off her alarm. She opened her eyes.

_White ceiling? Check._

_Stupid alarm clock? Check._

_New school? New place? New house? New life? – _

Clary startled herself awake. _Oh right._ They were in New York. And she was going to a school called "The Institution". How lame.

"Morning, Clary," Luke's voice, accompanied by the sound and smell of eggs and bacon, wafted into Clary's room. _Mmmmmmm. Fooooood._

A short while later, Clary stumbled into the kitchen. "Morninglukesmellsgood," she mumbled. Her stepfather grinned knowingly. Jonathon was already chomping his way through a large pile of scrambled eggs.

"Aaah, the first day of high school. I remember it was so scary. But don't worry," he reassured. "I was fine. And you will too."

"Thanks, Luke," Clary smiled warily. She munched on her breakfast, wondering what it would be like at her new school.

"Of course, my whole grade was new, so it didn't really matter…" Luke rambled for a while until – "Jonathon, Clary, you guys should know that there are cliques at the Institution. All the students take it very seriously. They always have, and always will." His serious tone caught their attention, but Clary shrugged it off.

"I'm sure it's not _that_ bad."

Oh, how wrong she was.

Clary jogged into the room, pale cheeks flaming like her hair. She had gotten lost again, and panted out a vague apology at the teacher. The teacher frowned, but turned back the board. Again, all eyes were on her again, and the whispers reached her ears, menacing tales hammering away at her self-control. _Shut up! _Clary wanted to scream. There were so many rumours about her, Jocelyn, Jonathon or Luke, and none of them were true.

"… I heard that she and her brother are secretly going out…"

"… Have you heard about that new girl, Clarissa? Amy says she's a stuck up bitch. She looks like one too…"

"Omigosh, Lydia told me that the new girl said something about you, Izzy…" The last one came from a platinum blonde girl whispering in a brunette's ear. The dark-haired girl – Izzy – dismissed the rumour.

"Hey there, newbie!" A dark-skinned girl plonked down in the seat next to her. "I'm Maia."

"And I'm Simon," a familiar looking boy added, sitting on her other side.

"Oh," Clary mumbled. "I'm Clary."

Maia snorted. "Girl, everyone knows you. You're the newbie."

"... Ok..."

"So how was your first day at the Institution?" Maia asked. "Enjoy getting gossiped about?" Clary made a face.

"Students! Pay attention!" the teacher snapped. Clary groaned. Luke had been right – there were so many cliques. She hoped she would be able to sit with Maia and Simon at lunch.

_Cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, emos…._

**RIIIIIIIIING!**

The bell rang without warning, startling Clary out of her happy bubble of new friends.

"Time for lunch!" Maia sang happily, and skipped out of the room. Clary giggled.

"Come on," Simon said dryly. "If we don't leave now, we'll never catch up." Fortunately, Maia was waiting at the entrance, so they strolled into the large cafeteria, Clary pausing to admire all the students and their designer clothes and accessories. Whispers and stares followed their every movement, until Maia glared.

"Shut up, you retards!" the girl growled, resembling a wolf. I don't ever want to get on her bad side, Clary thought nervously.

"So what do you think of Shakespeare, Clary?" Simon asked. Clary groaned.

"God, I hate English. And maths. And everything else that's not art."

"Poor thing," Maia remarked.

"Don't worry," Simon chuckled. "I can help you..." He trailed off at the sudden hush.

Jace Wayland sauntered in the room. Girls gasped. Some giggled. A girl near Clary fanned her blushing cheeks anxiously. In the moment when Jace had stepped into the room, the girls had simultaneously morphed into smart, beautiful young women into swooning, boy-obsessed teens.

Maia snorted at her gender. "Idiots."

Clary could only stare at Jace. Her first thought was how she would love to sketch him, draw the angular planes of his beautiful face.

Simon followed her gaze. "Ah, I see you've seen my brother."

Clary snapped out of her daze. "What? No way!" she gasped. "I mean, you guys don't look related."

Simon raised his eyebrow – _damnit! I wanna do that!_ Clary thought enviously. "Are you implying that I do not share my _step_brother's obvious looks?"

She flushed. "No, no!" Clary protested, not wanting to insult her new friend. "It's just that… I mean, you guys are so different, and I … Omigosh, I'm so sorry!"

Maia giggled. "Relax, newbie, he was just kidding."

"Oh." Clary decided to continue staring at Jace. Her green eyes roamed over him, curiously wondering what he would be like with Simon as his brother.

And then he looked at her. Gold met green.

It was then Clary knew that having Simon as a brother had not influenced him one bit. She could see a cocky look in his eyes, a smirk on his face. Add that with all the girls in the school, and you have a player called Jace Wayland.

She looked away.

Maia started talking. "This school has 1 main person, who happens to be Jace, my ex-boyfriend. Other important people may include Aline Penhallow, school valedictorian, Isabelle Lightwood, head of the cheerleading squad and Alexandra Herondale, school slut," Maia pointed out a two black-haired girls and a blonde. "Alec Lightwood is pretty okay, and he's gay. He's off limits. Or at least that's what everyone unofficially agreed when his boyfriend came to pick him up."

Clary squirmed uncomfortably. "Ok…"

"Now, Jace Wayland is a player. Currently he's dating…" Maia frowned a little. "Oh yeah! Aline, Isabelle and Alex. Because they're from different cliques, they don't know about each other. And that way, Jace can continue getting laid, without causing much scandal. He also convinces them to keep it a secret because his father supposedly disapproves of him dating in basketball season. He may be a player, but he is damn smart."

Clary frowned. He seemed like a douche.

"Not that I approve, of course," Maia clarified. "So what do you have next, newbie?"

Clary checked her timetable. "Um, Gym and English. Hey, how do you know he does all that?"

Maia grinned. "I watch and lean. And dating him also helped me figure out he was dating those girls over there." She waved airily towards her right. "Anyway, Gym and English? Me too! What about you, Simon?"

Simon fixed his glasses. "Um, History and English. Guess we all have English together," he added shyly.

**RIIING!**

"Eeek!" Clary made a sound of protest at the sharp noise.

Maia giggled. "Don't worry, you get used to it."

And with that, Clary headed off to Gym with her new friend.


	3. Revelation

Chapter 3

**Last chapter! Hope you liked this story. I might continue it if anyone wants me to.**

According to Maia, they were doing volleyball in Gym. Clary winced. She was terrible at all things sporty, and had warned Maia away from her.

"Hmmm," Maia grinned wickedly. "It seems that all of the girlfriends happen to be in the same class today..."

The class had been split up by gender, and the girls were sitting on the benches. Maia had disappeared, and now Clary was sandwiched between 2 pairs of gossiping girls. On her right, a brunette with sparkling blue eyes whispered excitedly. Isabelle.

"Oh my gosh, I had the best. Date. Ever last night," the girl gushed. "It was so romantic, and we had dinner, and then we went walking in the park..." Clary rolled her eyes. On her other side, a girl murmured quietly to her friend, something about "the perfect date" and "... so romantic..." and then, as they were walking to the volley ball courts.

"Who is it, Alex?" the other girl pleaded. "I want to know!" Clary remembered that this was Alex Herondale, school slut.

Alex giggled quietly, and said (not as quietly) "I went out with Jace Wayland!"

"WHAT?" The outraged cry came from Isabelle, head of the cheerleading squad, and the girl from Clary's other side. From the other side of the net, Maia winked at Clary as an Asian girl impatiently threw the ball up and down.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" snarled Alex. "I. Went. Out . With. Jace. Wayland."

This caught the Asian girl's attention. As she was serving.

"But I'm going out with him!" Asian girl smacked the ball over the net. And into Alex's face.

"What the hell was that for, bitch?" Alex hissed.

"Guys, stop fighting," ordered Isabelle. "We all know that Jace belongs to me." What was her name? Clary wondered.

"Isabelle, SHUT UP!" Asian girl shrieked. "Jace is my boyfriend! He's MINE!"

"Yeah, right, Aline!" sneered Alex.

"Shut up, Alex! He's my boyfriend! How dare you go out with him!" Aline – Asian girl – screamed wildly.

Meanwhile, Isabelle picked up the offending volleyball, and hurled it at Aline. "Stay away from my Jace!"

"Your Jace?" Both Alex and Aline picked up volleyballs and chucked it at Isabelle, who ducked and screamed.

"Jace is MINE!" Alex screeched.

"NO, HE'S MINE!" Aline squealed as a volleyball flew towards her.

"Everyone knows Jace belongs with the head cheerleader – who happens to be _me_!" Isabelle taunted.

"As if!" Aline spat. "I have the brains, and the looks, to go out with Jace."

"Stop being ridiculous!" Alex shouted. "Jace and I have been going out after he broke it off with that slut Cindy."

"Look who's talking, Alex," Isabelle retorted. "You're the slut, not Cindy!"

"Guys, stop it!" Clary pleaded. It was useless. The three offended girls were throwing volleyballs mercilessly at each other - and Clary. "Ow!"

The last cry came as the whistle blew.

"Girls!" The coach looked furious. "What kind of behaviour is this? Detention for Aline, Alex, Isabelle and Clarissa!"

"What?" Clary protested. "I didn't even do anything!"

"Shut it, Miss Fray."

* * *

_In the library..._

"Miss Penhallow, over there. Miss Lightwood, sit here. Miss Herondale, on that table. And you, Miss Fray," the teacher tutted. "I expected better of a new student. You're sitting next to Miss Herondale."

The girls sat in their appointed seats and glared at each other, Clary caught in the middle of the menacing stares.

"Jace is mine!" Aline hissed quietly.

"No, he's not!" Alex whisper-shouted at her.

Aline spoke up. "Listen, you guys. I've already talked to him, and he told me that he," she lowered her voice. "You know, felt sorry for you." Aline shrugged shamelessly and continued. "He also said that you two were jealous, because Jace and I share something special. It's something that we-"

Isabelle butted in. "It's something that we can't name, because it's an unspoken bond. He also loves how secure I am and-"

"How do you know what Jace said to me?" Aline glared. "NO WAY! How dare you listen in on _our private conversations_?"

Isabelle shook her head frantically. "I didn't! He said that to me as well-"

"And it hurts me to know that you would even question it," A horrified Alex ignored the two, and continued.

"Because you are the only girl for me!" The three girls finished quoting Jace's words together.

"It can't be true!" Alex tried to deny it. "I mean, he loves me! He's mine!"

"NO, he's mine!" Isabelle retorted.

"SHUT UP!" Clary shouted. The librarian turned around and glared. Clary flushed and looked back at the girls.

"What I mean to say is that Jace is dating you all! He's a player!" Clary explained furiously.

"Jace would never do that to me!" Isabelle protested.

Only Aline understood. "My Jace?" she asked sadly.

Clary rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jace."

Alex was still confused. "But Jace and I share an unbreakable love! Whatever you have with my Jacey is nothing!"

"Look guys," Clary said seriously. "You can't believe that. He's a _player._ And right now, he's playing you guys."

Isabelle frowned. "Who are you? How would you know about Jace?"

"I'm Clary. And let me tell you that I have a lot of experience about these kind of guys. Maia also explained it to me," Clary said, referring to all her mother's dodgy boyfriends. "Let's see – he calls you nicknames, like 'sweetie' or 'honey' or 'baby'." The 3 girls nodded.

"It's not out of affection. He just calls you those names so he doesn't get your real names mixed up."Alex gasped.

"Also, because he's' dating girls from different cliques, the girls can't guess that he's dating other girls. Girls from different cliques don't really talk to each other, right? I'm gonna guess, and say this is the first time you guys have ever talked to each other. "

They nodded again.

"Wait a second," Isabelle accused. "You're not dating him too, are you?"

Clary made a face. "Ew, now way. I would never date player like him. Not to mention my brother Jonathon would kill him."

"Ooh, you mean that new hottie?" Aline giggled.

"Uh, yes. That's him. Anyway, if I was dating a guy like Jace, I would-"

"Break up with him, I know, I know," Alex finished. "But Jace would only date some other girls. Besides,

Clary smirked. "Actually, I was gonna say that I would get even."

The librarian came over, glaring. "Your detention's over, girls. Get out!"

They shuffled out of the library, Clary heading towards her brother.

"Clary! Wait!" Isabelle called out, Aline and Alex trailing her.

"We want to get revenge on Jace," Alex whispered dangerously as they approached Clary.

"I'm against the killing of animals, but I'm making an exception in Jace's case!" Aline declared.

Isabelle smiled and nodded. "I'm pretty curious about your plan, Clary."

Clary shook her head. "Look guys, what makes you think that _I _would know how to get revenge on _the _Jace Wayland? I'm the newbie." She continued walking towards Jonathon.\

"Clary!" Isabelle called again. "If we did it without you, we wouldn't get anything done – not to mention we'd probably go crazy again."

"You showed us what Jace is like," Aline added solemnly.

"And that we have something in common now," Alex added.

"Get revenge on Jace Wayland! Take him DOWN!" Isabelle cheered.

"Oh," Clary said. She hadn't realised what a big effect she had made. But to take down Jace Wayland, Golden Boy of the school? Clary grinned viciously.

"Hell yeah."


	4. Of Plots and Plans Part 1

Chapter 4

**It seems that people want me to continue, so... I am! Anyway, a response to **She Who Must Not be Named:

**It's true that I quoted some stuff, but I promise I'll try to make it interesting. **

**If anyone has any ideas for their pranks, please review/message me! **

Clary shivered in the cold in front of Aline's house. The house scared her, in all its clean, white, big glory, so different to her own small, cosy cottage. _Ah well._

DING DONG!

The sound clanged and echoed throughout the house and around Clary's head, leaving her more nervous than before.

The front doors swung open silently. "Hi, Clary!" Aline smiled and welcomed her in, playing the part of the gracious hostess. The house was silent and empty, but still warm and inviting. Lamps lined the corridor, making everything well lit.

"Nice house, Aline," Clary managed. Aline made a face and laughed.

"Pssh, you should see my cousin in Paris. He has the biggest house _ever._" Aline bounded up the stairs, Clary attempting to imitate Aline's energy. It didn't work.

"Here we go!" Aline bounced into her... very pink room. The colour overwhelmed Clary – pink walls, pink flowers, but thankfully, her bedspread was a nice, normal blue. Alex and Isabelle chatted on it, stopping to notice Clary and Aline.

"Hey, Clary!" Isabelle grinned. "Ready to start plotting?"

Clary smiled back. "Um, sure." Isabelle whipped out a video camera.

"Now, to begin, we all have to swear an oath," Alex announced. "And we're gonna record it! Now, repeat after me."

"After me," Clary droned. The other girls giggled.

"Ahem," Alex mock-glared. "I, Alex Herondale, swear to try everything and anything in my power to bring down Jace Wayland."

"I, Aline Penhallow, swear to try everything and anything in my power to bring down Jace Wayland."

"I, Isabelle Lightwood, swear to try everything and anything in my power to bring down Jace Wayland."

"And I, Clarissa Fray, swear to try everything and anything in my power to bring down Jace Wayland."

"And we are good to go!" Alex cheered, then sobered. "Ok, Clary, what's your plan?"

Clary was bewildered. "What? My plan? I thought we were doing it together!"

"I guess that means she doesn't have a plan," Aline remarked.

"I guess we can start from the basics," Clary said. "We have to get the very essence of Jace. What does he like?"

"Basketball."

"Girls."

"Getting laid." Alex wiggled her eyebrows mischievously.

"Ok," Clary drew out the one-syllable word. "So, anything we have to do has to involve either basketball or girls. I think we can assume that if we humiliated him about anything else, it wouldn't really work."

"Girls," Alex mused. "Hey, we could tell everyone about Jace being a player! Then he wouldn't have any girls to pick from at school."

Isabelle shook her head, straight black hair flying. "I don't think that would work. No matter how bad Jace is at being boyfriend, girls would still want to date him. And even if no girl at our school wanted to date him he would just turn to girls outside of school."

"That's true," Alex admitted. "So what should we focus on first? Girls or basketball?"

"I noticed that being a basketball star attracts lots of girls, so I'm gonna assume that those two go hand in hand," Aline chimed. "This means that if we take out his being a basketball superstar, he won't have as many girls."

"Yes, that's true," said Clary. "But surely being a basketball star can't be the only reason girls like him, right? What made you guys like him?"

"Well, he was always so sweet, and caring," observed Aline.

Alex grinned. "Of course, having a good body always helps. He's really hot, being ripped from basketball." She swooned.

Clary frowned. "Well, unless there's something out there that turns hot guys into idiot weirdos, how are we going to do that?"

"Look it up on Google," Isabelle suggested sweetly. "Google is awesome."

Aline giggled. "Good point, my partner-in-taking-down-Jace-Wayland."

Alex raised an eyebrow, and Clary groaned internally. _Oh, come on! How many people can do that here?_ "Partner-in-taking-down-Jace-Wayland?"

"Oh, come on!" Aline grumbled, echoing Clary's thoughts. "Stupid ads!"

Isabelle frowned. "What is it, Aline?"

"Oh, it's just these stupid ads my computer refuses to block. They keep popping up every time I go on the Internet," explained the Asian girl as Clary leaned over her shoulder.

"Does your boyfriend have 'the clap'?" Clary read slowly. "Take this quiz and find out!"

"I kind of doubt that Jace has 'the clap'," Isabelle wrinkled her nose, then smirked. "But we can make people think he does!"

"Huh?" Alex mumbled.

Isabelle rolled her eyes and explained. "What I mean is that we can pretend that Jace has 'the clap'! One of my cousins is a pro photographer."

"And then we can send the photos in!" Alex broke in excitedly.

"Where are we gonna display them, though?" Clary worried. "Even if we do send them it, they're probably just going to pop up on Aline's computer again."

"Ah, but it's not just on computers," Aline corrected. "They show up at the movies too."

The four girls shared a knowing grin.

* * *

_The next day..._

"Jace!" Isabelle waved her arm excitedly, bangles jangling loudly. "Oh my gosh, Jace, I haven't seen you since yesterday!" She buried her grin into his chest.

"Aw, baby, I missed you too. I was having basketball practice after school," Jace murmured. Isabelle rolled her eyes. Yeah right. He had actually been on a date with Aline. What a liar.

"Listen, Jace," Isabelle purred. "I think you should be a model. You totally have the looks for it."

Jace smirked at the thought of being a male model. "Sweetie, I don't really know," Jace fake-hesitated.

"Oh, it's okay," Isabelle reassured. "My cousin, Morgan, is a professional photographer. She could take some shots and send them in somewhere."

"If you say so, baby," Jace whispered and lowered his face to hers.

_Later that afternoon..._

"Morgan, this is my boyfriend, Jace," Isabelle smiled lovingly at him. "And Jace, baby, this is my cousin Morgan."

"Nice to meet you," said Morgan. She eyed him up and down. "Now, come this way. We'll pick out some outfits for you to model."

Isabelle smirked.

* * *

"Wow, baby, you look hot," Isabelle purred. Jace grinned and kissed her. "Mmmm."

"Come on, you two," Morgan jostled them over to the studio. "Listen, Jace. Modelling is about attracting attention, and I think you can do that if you take your shirt off."

Jace frowned. "Are you sure this isn't another plot of Izzy's to get me shirtless?" he joked. Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"Your call." Jace contemplated shirtless would mean more attraction. More attraction would mean more fame, which would, as did everything else he did, lead to girls.

"Alright," Jace started taking his shirt off, revealing a very muscled body. Isabelle winked.

* * *

_The next evening..._

"Come on, baby," Jace tugged on the girl's hands and they sat down, cuddling together. The three girls beside Clary hissed and glared down at the boy 3 rows down from them. Sure, they knew he was a player and a jerk, but they still like him. Hopefully, Clary thought, that won't get in the way of everything. The cinema lights dimmed, revealing an over bright screen. Useless advertisements came on, blaring catchy music.

"This is it!" Isabelle giggled. A picture of a shirtless Jace posing came on, set against a multi coloured background.

"Ooh, I never knew you were a model," the girl whispered. "You look so... hot."

Jace shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I'm a model," he said, and leaned down to kiss his new date.

A loud voiceover blasted out of the speakers. "Has your boyfriend got," a dramatic pause. "'The clap'?" The whole cinema laughed.

The girl pulled away and screamed. "OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE I _KISSED_ YOU!"She ran out of the cinema.

"Now, Clary!" Aline prompted. Clary stood and shrieked.

"EhmaGAWD! THAT'S HIM! THAT'S THAT GUY WITH 'THE CLAP'!" Satisfied, Clary sat back down and watched the mayhem.

Jace looked shocked at the abrupt scream, and the whole cinema laughed loudly, pointing and throwing popcorn.

"Job done!" Clary whispered. She high-fived the others and they headed out of the cinema.

* * *

_At school the next day..._

"Attention students," a voice droned from the P.A. System. "We will be holding an assembly in the hall after lunch. Please report to the hall immediately after lunch. Thank you. That is all."

Clary looked up from her conversation with Maia and Simon and glance at Aline, Alex and Isabelle, all of whom had no answer.

RIIING!

The bell rang loudly. Assembly time.

The students shuffled wearily to the hall, muttering quietly to each other. Clary looked wildly around for the three girls, and they sat down, near enough to each other to communicate. Then Clary looked up onto the stage.

Jace stood on the stage, smirking and proudly holding an award.

"Friends and fellow school mates, I'm sure you're all wondering why there's an assembly today. Well, I have to confess. As some of you saw last night, I am proud to announce that I support the minority of people who have 'the clap'." His voice rang triumphantly throughout the hall. Clary stared in horror. "I may not suffer from it, but I empathise and sympathise for those who do, and it is my honour, to stand up for them!"

Cheers rang through the once-silent hall.


	5. World Problems

Chapter 5:

**Chapter 5! I hope the chapters are long enough. Enjoy! Sorry if Isabelle seems a bit mean, but understand that she is one of the top 3, and has to keep her place at the top. And that means no one (that she knows) else can date Jace.**

Isabelle pranced into the hallway, the entire cheerleading squad backing her up. The younger students gasped, and moved out of the way. She, Isabelle, was the queen. Or, at least, one of the three queens at the Institution. And right now, she was a predator, on her way to destroy someone.

"Roxanne!" Isabelle's voice was like a whip. The blonde turned around, and looked fearfully at the squad. "Roxanne, I think you and I need to have a little talk," Isabelle cooed. "You see, a little bird told me that _you_ were at the movies last night."

Roxanne lifted her chin defiantly, her cheerleading uniform giving her confidence. "Yeah? So?"

Isabelle ignored her and continued. "At the movies, my dear, with a certain blond haired, golden eyed boy. Sound familiar?"

The girl gulped. "Oh, you don't know who that is?" Isabelle pouted innocently, then snarled. "That would happen to be _Jace, my boyfriend!_ What do you think you were doing? Trying to take over _my _squad? _My _life?"

"No, no, Izzy!" Roxanne pleaded. "I never meant to do that, it's just that-"

Isabelle cut her off. "You don't deserve that uniform anymore, Roxanne," her voice cold as ice. "I expect to see it handed back to me by lunch. And don't you dare _ever_ audition again for the cheerleading squad. Don't even think about sitting with us, or even talking to us," Isabelle added. "It was nice knowing you, Roxanne. Goodbye."

The battle won, a triumphant Isabelle marched off to cheerleading practice. Behind her, the cheerleaders whispered about Roxanne's harsh punishment before they headed off to stretch.

"Baby, we need to talk."

Jace was leaning against the gym door, his expression serious and regretful. _Oh no_.

"Jacey," Isabelle cooed. "Have you heard anything about your modelling?"

"Babe, where did you send them too?" asked Jace. "They ended up in an ad about something about 'the clap'." Isabelle did send it to them, babbling about how this handsome boy did have 'the clap' and he wanted to help others. She also convinced them to send their decision back to her.

"Oh my gosh," Isabelle gasped. "I swear I sent it to some magazines. It must have gotten lost in the mail. Oh, you poor thing. Is that what the assembly was about?"

Jace ignored her cooing. "Izzy," he began. "I really don't know how to tell you this, but I'll try. Honestly, the spark is gone. I don't feel the same way about you anymore."

Isabelle gaped. "You're breaking up with me ?" To Isabelle's horror, tears started to form.

"No, baby. Well, yes, I guess. But it's not you," he hastened to reassure her. "It's me."

To be honest, Isabelle still really liked Jace, even though she knew he was a player and a jerk, even though she knew that his being sweet and caring was _just_ an act. _Oh god. _

"Izzy!" Bailey, a cheerleader, rushed over and hugged Isabelle. "Oh my god, we just saw what happened. Are you okay?"

"No," Isabelle whispered. Jace. Jace Wayland, was breaking up with her. Probably dumping her for Roxanne, Isabelle thought. _But it's not like he _loves_ Roxanne or anything._

_Then again, it's not like he loves_ me.

* * *

_Later that evening..._

The plotting was taking place at Alex's house, but no one seemed to be in the mood for plotting. Clary had arrived first, and Isabelle had come soon after, glaring fiercely at no one in particular. Alex was abnormally silent, doodling a skirt design.

"What's wrong?" Clary asked. Isabelle turned ferociously blue eyes on the redhead, but they started to glitter as tears formed. The doorbell rang, and Alex left to answer it.

"Jace broke up with me," Isabelle said harshly. "I mean, I thought he was going to break up with me after all our revenge." She sniffed.

Aline burst through the door, furious beyond all reason. "What the crap?" Aline snarled. Clary was shocked at the Asian girl's fury. "We give him 'the clap', and the school gives him an award! And now he breaks up with me!"

"You too?" Alex whispered. Isabelle wiped her eyes, and Aline fumed as she paced. Clary was at a loss, until she remembered a similar scene with her mother.

"Hey, Alex," Clary spoke softly. "Do you have any ice-cream or chocolate?"

"Yeah," was the mumbled reply.

"Could we have some, please?" Clary asked.

"Sure," Alex shrugged.

* * *

_5 minutes later..._

"I love ice-cream," Aline sighed contentedly. The others mumbled muffled agreements through mouthfuls of chocolate and ice-cream.

"Clary, you're the best," Isabelle beamed. "This is the best break-up medicine ever."

"I agree!" Alex nodded enthusiastically.

"It's okay," Clary blushed a little. "My mother used to have all these dodgy boyfriends, and every time she found out they were jerks, she'd break up, and eat ice-cream. Hey, Alex, what's that?" Clary snatched the piece of paper of Alex's navy blue desk.

"Hey, it's a design!" Isabelle and Aline crowded around Clary to see.

"Wow, it's so good," Aline admired the design. "This is a side of Alex I've never seen before."

Alex flushed, and hid under her wavy blonde hair. "It's nothing."

"Yeah right," Aline taunted. "I know! Let's play truth or... truth! Any question we ask, the victim has to answer. Truthfully." She giggled.

"I think Aline should go first, since she wanted to play," Alex retorted. "Truth or truth, Aline?"

Aline laughed. "Hmmm, I think I'll pick truth."

"Okay then," Alex rubbed her chin thoughtfully, and pretended to stroke an imaginary beard. "Ok, I have nothing. Clary, Isabelle? Got any questions?"

"Nope, sorry," Clary said bashfully.

"Same," Isabelle chimed.

"Okay, I don't think we should play this," admitted Aline. "Ooh, how about we play a game, and you write down three things – 1 true, 2 false, and they have to be about you. Then everyone else guesses which one is true!"

"Okay," Clary agreed half-heartedly. She scribbled down a few things.

"Done? Alright, Isabelle goes first!" Aline announced.

"Right. Anyway, I wrote down that I used to have a crush on Simon, that Jace and I were childhood sweethearts, and that my favourite colour is purple."

"I think that the childhood sweethearts one is false," said Alex.

"Yeah, me too. I think that the crush on Simon one is false," Clary said.

"Damn. I thought the last one was wrong," Aline grimaced. "Well, at least we have a 2 in 3 chance of being right."

Alex snorted. "Only you, Aline, could find away to incorporate maths into this."

"Ahem," Isabelle interrupted. "Clary was wrong, which means she has to go next."

"Fine," Clary sighed noisily. "I wrote that I'm an artist, that I love red and that I hate toast.

"Toast is wrong," Aline announced.

"You hate red," Alex grinned.

"But you are an artist," Isabelle laughed.

"I don't think I like this game," Clary joked.

"I think you should sleep over," Alex commanded. "My parents are away, so it's only use. Girls night in!"

Clary smiled and dialled Jocelyn. A few minutes later, the conversation ended.

"Okay, my mom's coming with my stuff," Clary declared. "Let the 'Girl's Night In' begin!"


	6. Of Plots and Plans  Part 2

Chapter 6

"I never knew getting revenge was so hard," Clary admitted as they lay in their sleeping bags, sprawled across the floor. "I guess being humiliated isn't a big deal to him."

"Well, we decided that getting humiliated in basketball and girls would be better, right?" Aline tried to apply logic to their situation.

"Basketball and girls, basketball and girls," Isabelle chanted softly.

"You girls want anything?" Alex's mom stood in the doorway, holding a glass of water and a bottle of pills.

"Mom!" Alex exclaimed. "Don't worry, we're fine, it's okay."

"Alright then," Alex's mom said sceptically. She threw the pills into her mouth and downed the water, wincing as she did so. "G'night, girls."

"Ew," Clary made a disgusted face. "I can never swallow pills like that."

"Goodnight, Mrs Herondale," Isabelle and Aline said.

"Okay, so giving him 'the clap' didn't work," Clary racked her brain. "And I have a feeling nothing else will too, so let's get back to the basics again."

"Basketball and girls," Aline reminded her.

"Anything else?" Clary asked. "You know, anything else that makes him the king of this school."

"His looks," Alex decided. "And also the way he seemed so confident of himself."

"To me, he was, like, what a guy should be," Isabelle declared. "You know, he was strong and handsome, but he was also really sweet and caring." She resumed her chanting of 'girls' and 'basketball'.

"So, basically, he's the perfect guy," Clary frowned. The way Isabelle was repeating the words over and over again...

"Girl's basketball."

"Sorry?" Alex asked, confused.

"Isabelle, you said that he was what a guy should be – tough, strong and handsome, right?" Clary sat up, thinking over her idea.

"Yeah," Isabelle said slowly.

"Well, what if we took away his 'guyness'?" Clary blurted happily. "He wouldn't be able to play basketball, or date girls!"

"That sounds pretty good," Aline mused. "But how are we going to 'take away' his guyness?"

"Oh," Clary frowned again. Alex grinned.

"Pills."

"What about them?"

"My mom, as you saw before, was swallowing a bunch of pills right?" Alex also sat up, and the girls rearranged themselves so they were sitting in a circle.

"Estrogen," Aline caught on to Alex's plan almost immediately. "WE give Jace some estrogen pills."

"That's the female hormone thingy, right?" Clary asked.

"Yup," Isabelle agreed. "But what do you think it's going to do to Jace?"

"I don't know," Aline said as the girls looked at her. "I may be smart, but no one has ever done this before to a guy!"

"So we're just going to test it out on Jace?"

"God, I feel like an evil scientist," Clary said, and cackled evilly.

Alex cracked up. "Do you think he might grow boobs?"

...

Aline interrupted the awkward silence. "I kinda doubt that, Isabelle."

"No," Clary sighed sleepily. "But we'll just have to wait and see, right?"

"Right," the other three girls said in unison.

_Two days later..._

"Jace," Alex called. Jace turned around, confused.

"Oh. It's you," he said, disappointed.

"Sad I'm not your latest girlfriend?" Alex raised her eyebrow. "Ok, look. We may have gone out, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right?"

"Right," Jace nodded. The gears in his head were whirring: slutty ex/girl/friend with benefits. "Sure, why not? Besides, I missed our private... talks." He winked at her.

"Sure thing, babe," Alex whispered, playing the part of the school slut. Jace leaned forwards and kissed her, his hands coming up around her hair. They crept into an empty classroom, Alex's hands roaming under his shirt. Abruptly, she pulled apart and went to her bag.

"Hey, Jacey," she suggested. "Your muscles aren't... what they use to be, you know? I think I have something that can, uh, make you more buff."

Jace raised his eyebrow. "Oh come on, Jace. My brother tried it, and now he's totally ripped." Another lie – he'd been working out every single day for a few hours, and he'd been her mother's boyfriend. Like mother, like daughter, right?

The boy frowned. Yes, he did remember Alex's older brother. And he remembered the other guy's enormous biceps straining through his shirt.

"Sure, I'll try it," Jace said.

From that day on, Alex and the girls carefully observed Jace. Every basketball practice he took it, and on one particular boring afternoon where they decided to spy on him, before dates as well. Which basically meant 2-3 times a day.

"Huh, I wonder if that's okay for him," Aline mused. "I mean, it's not like we want him to die."

_A week later, at the basketball game..._

"THE ANGELS VERSING THE LIONS IN THE SEMI-FINALS!" The announcer boomed across the stadium. "AND NOW, BASKETBALL SUPERSTAR JACE WAYLAND HAS THE BALL! AND HE SHOOTS! HE SCOR- no, he MISSED! WHAT IS THIS? THE GREAT JACE WAYLAND HAS MISSED A SHOT!"

The cheerleaders screamed in despair. Clary sat with Simon and Maia, incredibly bored. "How long until it finishes, Simon?"

He grimaced. "Another 45 minutes I think."

Clary groaned. But then the next announcement caught her attention.

"AAAAND JACE HAS THE BALL AGAIN! NOW THE LIONS ARE CORNERING HIM!"

"Jace, pass it to me!" a fellow Angel shouted at Jace. What came next though, was completely unexpected.

Instead of passing, Jace scrunched up his face and held the ball closer to himself. "No! Don't tell me what to do, Jason!" The entire stadium screeched to a halt as they heard Jace.

"What do you mean?" Jason yelled. "Dude, just PASS ME THE BALL!"

"No!" Jace screamed defiantly back. "I'm sick of you guys telling me what to do! I hate it! It makes me feel so unwanted! You take me for granted!" And then, as Clary watched with interest, Jace burst into tears, and ran to the entrance. "AND STOP CALLING ME DUDE! I DON'T LIKE IT!" Then he ran out of the stadium.

The announcer was at a loss for words. "Is that me, or did Jace Wayland just burst into tears and leave?"

_Early the next morning before school..._

"'And stop calling me dude!'," Isabelle repeated Jace's words happily. "'I don't like it!'"

They cracked up, marvelling at how well this plan had worked. Clary wiped her tears of laughter away. "Now that you mention Jace, his chest does look a little bigger..."

She grinned mischievously, and burst into laughter again.

RIIIING!

"Sorry, guys, gotta run!" Clary waved and headed towards Simon and Maia. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, girl," Maia greeted Clary, her expression down. "Haven't seen you for a while. Hanging out with Aline? Or maybe Alex? Isabelle?"

"Umm," Clary mumbled. "Yes?"

Maia snorted. "So that's where you disappear to every night. We thought you were grounded or something."

"Oh," said Clary, startled. "I'm sorry; I should have told you guys."

It was Simon who spoke. "It's okay, Clary."

"I still think it's a bad idea," Maia declared. "Those girls are nothing but trouble. And once you come running back to us, I'll just have to say I told you so."

"Back off, Maia," Simon said. He blinked his eyes wearily.

"Are you okay, Simon?" Clary worried.

"Yeah, it's just that Jace was acting a little weird yesterday," Simon admitted. "I came home, and he was crying in his bedroom. So I went in, and he just blurted everything out – stuff about his many girlfriends, and also," he added, "something about how 'we never had a brotherly chat before'. Then he insisted we stay up really late, talking about ourselves and how we feel."

"He could be a shrink," Maia remarked. "You know all that 'tell me how you feel' crap."

Clary laughed, and stopped as she spotted Jace walking confidently down the hallway. With two girls hanging on an arm each. As Jace and his girlfriends passed the trio, Clary heard one of the girls say something.

"I love how you can express your feelings, Jace."

"It's so sweet," the other girl cooed.

_Later that evening..._

This time, the three girls were sitting in Clary's bedroom. Isabelle groaned again. "Why does every plan we have backfire, damnit? We give him 'the clap', and he gets a stinking award. Then we make him more feminine, but apparently, he's still macho enough to use his femininity to get some girls. What is wrong with the world?"

"I don't know," answered a dumbstruck Clary.

"All I know is that it's screwed up!" Aline shouted. "Scratch that. It's not the world. It's our school, and, to be more specific, the girls at our school."

Only Alex remained calm. "You guys," she said. "I had an idea this afternoon, and I've been perfecting it all night. We've been approaching this the wrong way. It's not about humiliation, it's about _heartbreak_."

"This means..." Clary prompted.

"Jace breaks hearts, right? And we want to get revenge on him, right?" Alex continued. "So, all _we_ need to do is to break Jace's heart. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

Isabelle dismissed it. "How is that going to work? We've all dated Jace, and he's dumped us. End of story."

"Not," said Alex. "All of us."

"Oh, crap," said Clary.


	7. A New Look

Chapter 7

**Über revenge on Jace now! Mwahahahaha! Enjoy reading.**

"Come o-"

Clary interrupted again. "No. Negative. Nein. Nil. No. No, no, NO!"

"Clary!"

"No."

"Please?" Alex begged. "I wasted so much brain power on this. The least you could do is... well, do it!"

"No," Clary refused again.

"Why not?" demanded Aline.

"It's just...not right," Clary confessed. "It's one thing to try and publicly humiliate him, and another to mess with his feelings."

"Please?" Isabelle pleaded desperately.

"Compromise!" Alex sang. "You swore, Clary. So that means we get to, at the minimum, give you a makeover for the rest of the week, which is _only 3 days_."

Clary opened her mouth to protest. "But," Alex interrupted. "It's only for the rest of the week. A makeover, every night. We choose what you wear."

"Fine," Clary reluctantly agreed.

"One more thing," Aline added quickly. "And no, Clary, you can't back out now. You just agreed!"

Unintelligible swearing came from Clary's direction.

"As well as giving you a makeover, you _must_ flirt with Jace, at least once a day."

"What?"

* * *

_The next day..._

"Woah, who's that?"

"Man, she's hot."

"Isn't that that new girl?"

"Dude, that's my sister!" The cry came from a shocked Jonathon, who had driven to school before her.

Clary floated down the hallway dressed in skinny jeans and a black, slinky shirt-dress that made her flame-red hair stand out. Her small feet were clad in high heeled leather booths and the outfit screamed 'look at me!', and look the students did. Boys gaped openly at her, and girls whispered maliciously to their friends. An outfit like this would definitely attract attention. But at the Institution, the people with Clary were even more important.

Aline, dressed in a mid-thigh red dress that made her hair look shockingly black. Her golden legs were encased in fishnet tights.

Isabelle dressed in a white blouse and a gold miniskirt. Black earrings, flashing gold and silver, dangled from her ears while matching bangles adorned her slim arms.

And Alex, dressed in a long-sleeved button-up shirt, a black tie loosely hanging around her neck and a black micro-skirt that was barely visible from underneath her shirt, tossed her golden hair back and grinned.

Their arms were twined together, creating a wall of female power. What in the world had happened for the three queens of the school to hang out with the new girl?

* * *

_At lunch..._

The sound of trays meeting table was followed by excited chatter. Clary eyed her poorly prepared food with disgust as the four girls sat down. Maia and Simon followed soon, discussing something in class.

"Hey, you're Maia, right?" Aline asked. "You're the one who told Clary about all the," she gestured awkwardly. "You know, all that crap that's been going on lately."

"That would be me," Maia smiled. "And you are Aline Penhallow, smartest girl in school."

"I guess," Aline blushed.

Their conversation turned into an eager debate over the plot of _Macbeth_, the play they were studying in English.

"I knew we did a good job," Isabelle announced. "And now the entire school agrees."

"I know, right?" Alex gushed. "Everyone's just like, OMG, she's soo hawt." She giggled at the reference to a text sent by one of her friends.

"Right," Isabelle looked at Alex strangely. Clary giggled, having noticed that Simon kept sneaking glances at the beautiful Isabelle.

"Simon, meet Isabelle," Clary said dryly. "I'm sure you may have noticed her around here."

He straightened suddenly. "What? Oh, sorry, Clary. I was just a little distracted."

Isabelle giggled and winked at him. Simon flushed.

"Allie," interrupted a new voice. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

Isabelle involuntarily clenched her fist. "Hello, Jace," Aline said quickly.

Behind him, Alec was mouthing something along the lines of 'What the hell did you do to her?' at Isabelle, who was making gestures about 'Don't worry, we've got it covered'. Judging from his scowl, Isabelle thought, he was definitely worrying.

"Aline," he acknowledged. "So who are you, little girl?"

"Jace," Alex began. "This is-"

"Clarissa," Clary smiled in what she hoped was a seductive manner at Jace. "Clarissa Fray. But you," she said, lowering her voice, "can call me Clary." Jace was about to make a witty comeback when Maia spoke, popping the growing, partly sexual, tension.

"Hey, butthead," Maia said casually. She continued eating her snack, and talking to Aline. Aline ignored her ex-boyfriend in order to continue her very interesting talk with Maia.

"Oh," said Jace, looking disappointed. "Hi..."

"Maia, so nice to see you again," Maia finished.

"I didn't forget your name!" Jace defended himself coolly. "How could I forget the girl who..." He trailed off, his face bright red.

Maia raised an eyebrow. "The girl who insulted you, broke up with you, and then kicked your nuts? Yeah, that's me."

Jace winced, but his stepbrother stepped in. "Maia, stop it," Simon said sternly. "It's not nice to bully Jace, no matter how fun it is."

Jace glared at Maia, and opened his mouth again.

"Maia, let's go," Aline suddenly said. "We can continue our discussion in the library without some jerk interrupting us. You can come too, Simon," she added.

Maia groaned in disappointment. "Fine, fine." She stood up first, her eyes glinting with humour.

"Maia, no!" Too late, Maia darted forward and punched Jace in the arm. Hard.

"Crap," Jace swore under his breath. "Get going, Maia." Clary giggled silently.

Alex stood up. "Will you come to the bathroom with me, Isabelle? I really have to go." She left, dragging Isabelle with her.

Clary squirmed a little at Jace's gaze. "Well?" She said sceptically. "Now what?"

Clary couldn't believe those girls, ditching her so she could be with Jace.

Alone.

_Oh God._

"Clary, huh? Jace broke the awkward silence with his casual welcome-to-school words.

"That's right," Clary said quietly. Jace sat down, his amber eyes roamed over her face and body, and judging from the way his mouth lifted at one corner, he liked her.

_Gross._

"So what do you think of the Institution?" Jace spoke quietly, so different to his previous overconfident words.

"It's alright," Clary said honestly. It was true – Clary did like her new school, but the school 'politics' was very annoying. "What do you think?" She added politely. Her eyes wandered around the school, looking at everything but him.

Then she noticed Isabelle and Alex sitting, just like her and Jace, on a bench behind Jace. They pretended to lean towards each other, and Clary remembered her deal.

_Oh my gosh._

A deal was a deal though, so Clary imitated them and faced Jace. Staring him straight on was a mistake. His beautiful face watched her, and she itched for a piece of paper.

This would never work if she always got distracted by his beauty. _Flirting, flirting, flirting,_ Clary struggled to remember how to flirt. She had never done it before, and she tried to recall the movies and books she had seen.

_Aha!_ The little light bulb _dinged!_ discreetly in Clary's head. Clary leaned a tiny bit closer, and batted her mascara coated eyelashes at him.

Jace grinned. "Oh, it's okay." Clary shrugged, nodding politely as an answer.

"I think we should talk more often."

The words surprised Clary; she expected him to be more player-like, to be more outrageously flirty, rather than having a somewhat awkward conversation with him.

"You know, get-to-know-the-new-students-more kinda thing? And your brother's already on the basketball team. It's just you," Clary fought to stay still as he leaned a bit closer, "that I don't know." His words were smooth and flowing, and oh-so convincing. _Why not?_ Clary thought, hypnotised by his piercing gaze and winning words. _It's true – I am the newbie. Why not spend more time with him?_ She unconsciously leaned even closer to him.

_Because he's a player,_ answered the Isabelle-sounding voice in her head.

_You're smarter than that,_ the Aline voice remarked.

_Don't fall for his tricks, Clary,_ the voice sounding like Alex said. It was uncanny the way the voices sounded like what her friends would actually say. But what to do now?

_Flirt away, baby!_ Alex's voice cheered. So flirt she did.

"We should," Clary edged closer to Jace, copying his soul-piercing gaze. There was a smirk in his eyes as she flirted. She could practically hear his thoughts on how easy she was until she continued her sentence.

"But I don't want to know you, Jace Wayland." She stood on her borrowed boots, smirked down at him – not that there was much height difference between her standing and his sitting – and walked off towards Isabelle and Alex where they laughed silently at Jace.

_One day down. _

_Two more to go._


	8. Jace POV

Chapter 8:

**Jace POV:**

It was the silence that drew his attention.

At the Institution of New York, his school, it was never silent. Girls gossiped and whispered. Guys spoke loudly over the whispers. Lockers were opened, slammed. Shoes squeaked or clacked against the smooth floor. These sounds created a strange, familiar harmony, but today, it was gone.

The silence started from the direction of the main hallway, and spread throughout the school, as if someone had opened a tank of knockout gas. People suddenly quieted, and craned their necks to see what was happening. Jace frowned, and looked at said main hallway.

If he had been someone else, someone who wasn't as cool and collected as he was, Jace would have gasped at the sight. But he was Jace Wayland, so he simply looked coolly, and swore colourfully inside.

The three most popular girls walking down the hallway, dressed in attention-grabbing outfits. His three most recent ex-girlfriends linking arms with each other.

These girls were the 'queens' of the Institution, the girls in charge of running this school. He, Jace Wayland, was the 'king'. They never talked to each other, but they always talked about each other. They knew the others existed, but they never met, never sat next each other.

Jace had made sure of that. He always made sure the girls he dated never met.

But now, on the third day of school, they were walking together, linking arms, smiling secretly at each other, and looking like the best of friends. Isabelle, Alex and Aline.

A girl whispered near him and pointed at something. Someone. Jace followed the direction of the maliciously pointed finger and saw someone new. She was the new girl, he remembered. What was she doing with _them_? Newbies didn't become popular in 2 days. Or so he thought.

But no, the newest girl in the Institution of New York was laughing along with the other three girls, and judging from the oh-so-soft whispers surrounding them, she was as popular as them too.

A soft exclamation sounded behind him. "Dude, that's my sister!" The newest member of his basketball team was staring at the redhead, and had protested at Sebastian Verlac who had remarked on how 'hot' the sister was.

But, Jace had to admit,she wasn't just hot.

She was beautiful.

_At lunch…_

The sound of talking echoed throughout of the cafeteria – some whispering about his ex-girlfriends and the girl called 'Clary', some ignoring it all and talking like normal. Sebastian was ogling the new girl – again.

"Dude! Just shut up about my sister!" And Jonathon kept getting annoyed at Verlac – again.

"Verlac, shut it," Jace said lazily. He leaned coolly in his chair, examining this 'Clary'. A new target, definitely. He had slept, or gone out with, all of the popular girls in this school. And since this newbie was sitting with the popular girls, she counted as one.

She looked so naïve, so trusting. It would be easy to get her. _Why not start now?_

Jace stood up suddenly, and Alec, his best friend, his brother, quickly followed. He headed towards the table. This table was an abnormal – not the table, but the people sitting at it. Isabelle, head cheerleader. Aline, school valedictorian. Alex, school slut. They were the most important, but others sat with them.

Simon, his nerdy stepbrother, Clary the new girl and –_ Oh no –_ Maia, another ex-girlfriend. She wasn't popular, but she was feisty.

A bit too feisty.

As he approached the table, Isabelle's voice drifted towards him.

"… good job. And now the entire school agrees."

"I know, right?" The reply was made by Alex, who giggled. He noticed Simon staring at the gorgeous Isabelle, and smirked.

"Simon, meet Isabelle," the new girl said dryly. "I'm sure you may have noticed her around here."

Jace grinned involuntarily at her comment. The conversation continued, since the group hadn't noticed him. Yet.

"Allie," Jace interrupted, using Alex's pet name. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

Isabelle, he noted, clenched her fist, the bangles on her arms jingling quietly.

"Hello, Jace," Aline spoke. Behind him, Jace was vaguely aware of the silent conversation Alec and his sister were having.

"Aline. So who are you, little girl?" He directed his question to the redhead.

"Jace, this is-" Alex started.

The new girl smiled seductively at him and said, "Clarissa. Clarissa Fray. But you can call me Clary." Jace opened his mouth for a smart comeback but someone interrupted.

"Hey, butthead," Maia said. She took a bite of her food and continued talking to Aline.

"Oh," said Jace. "Hi."

"Maia, so nice to see you again," the dark-skinned girl finished.

"I didn't forget your name." Jace glared at her. "How could I forget the girl who…" Jace flushed, and trailed off.

"The girl who insulted you, broke up with you, and then kicked your nuts?" She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's me." She looked proud.

"Maia, stop it." Simon spoke up. "It's not nice to bully Jace, no matter how fun it is." The others giggled quietly.

Jace opened his mouth to protest, but Aline said, "Maia, let's go. We can continue our discussion in the library without some jerk interrupting us. You can come too, Simon," she added.

Disappointment flashed across Maia's face as she spoke. "Fine, fine." She stood up, and too late, Jace noticed the wicked glint in her eyes.

She zipped forward and whacked his arm. "Maia, no!" Simon shouted, too late to stop her.

Jace swore quietly. "Get going, Maia." She smirked, and left with Aline and Simon.

"Will you come to the bathroom with me, Isabelle? I really have to go." Alex stood up and dragged Isabelle off without an answer.

"Well?" the girl asked. "Now what?"

They were alone. Together. It would be the perfect moment to make a move. But instead of flirting, word burst from his lips.

"Clary, huh?" He sat down quickly.

"That's right," she agreed.

Jace casually examined her face. She was actually very pretty, this close up. Her cheekbones were sharp and angular, her eyes deep-set, mysterious and a luminous green, framed by long, dark lashes.

But God she was short, Jace thought. Thank goodness she was sitting. He never would have noticed her beauty if they were standing.

"So, what do you think of the Institution?" Jace asked. This kind of conversation was a little awkward – he hardly ever talked to girls, and when he talked to the guys, never this kind of small-talk conversation. It was a first.

"It's alright," she answered. "What do you think?" She faced him, eyelashes fluttering a little. _Good_, Jace thought. _A sign of encouragement._

"Oh, it's okay," Jace replied. Yes, he was lying. Being king of the school and a basketball star was awesome – not to mention the attention of every female.

"I think we should talk more often," Jace said suddenly. He covered it up quickly by saying, "You know, get to know the new students more kinda thing? And your brother's already on the basketball team. It's just you that I don't know." He poured honey into his voice, making rich and smooth and persuasive.

She leaned incredibly close in, her face mere centimetres from his. "We should," Clary breathed, her glowing green eyes piercing into his very soul. Jace smirked inwardly. This was the easiest a girl had ever been, despite her rather distracting green eyes.

"But I don't want to know you, Jace Wayland."

The rejection was abrupt, and before he knew it, Clary was standing with a smug grin on her pretty face, and she sauntered off towards his ex-girlfriends, slim hips swaying. Jace stared dumbly for a few moments, before he let a slow, predatory smile spread across his lips.

She was good, he had to admit.

But he was better. And he would have her.

"Hey, Wayland," Sebastian spoke from behind him. "Now that she's rejected you, can I have a go?"

"Dude!" Jonathon punched Verlac.

"Not yet, Verlac," Jace replied, still formulating a plan in his head. "Not yet."

**Yes, I have quoted **_**City of Bones**_** in here.**


	9. Pyramid

Chapter 9:

"Not bad, Miss Fray," Isabelle smiled at the memory of Jace's shocked expression.

"And the way you just left him there!" Alex added.

"At last, true revenge," Aline sighed dreamily.

"That was so weird," Clary disagreed. "Who knew flirting could be so... intimate?"

Alex smirked. Isabelle grinned. Aline raised her eyebrow.

"Okay, okay! You do! I don't," Clary admitted. "His eyes are so... intense. It's a little creepy."

"That's good," Aline said. "If you're creeped out, there's less chance of you liking him!"

"I guess," Clary agreed, choosing to ignore the way her chest tightened, and her heart sped up whenever he looked at her.

"Now we know he's interested in you, Clary," Isabelle planned. "He's definitely going to ask you out again, since every other girl would have accepted."

"Playing hard to get is hard," Clary confessed.

"I know," Aline smiled. "I refused him too, but the 2nd or 3rd time he asked me, I caved."

"Why?" Clary asked, worried that she, too, would give in.

"It's just that he was so... persistent," Alien explained. "No other guy had asked me out that many times before. They asked, I refused and that was it. With Jace, he seemed so interested in me, and I thought, well, if he's so determined to go out with me, that means he must really like me. Not to mention I could hardly resist the chance at getting to know the Jace Wayland."

"Hmmm," Alex mused. "So we have to keep him interested for a while, then they can go out!"

"Hold on a second," Clary demanded. "What happened to 'rest of the week'?"

"Clary!" Aline said reproachfully. "Playing hard-to-get for three days is not going to get revenge on Jace."

"But we agreed!" protested Clary. "For the rest of the week, you get to give me a makeover, and I have to flirt with Jace at least once a day. That means only two more days."

"Ah, but you're forgetting the weekend," Isabelle sang happily. "Saturday is the basketball game."

"Good thing we took away his estrogen," Alex grinned.

"True," Isabelle agreed.

"But I'm not even going to the basketball game!" Clary complained.

"You are now, Clary," Isabelle said. "You're going to sleepover at my place, because you are the newest member of my cheerleading squad."

"That wasn't part of the deal!"

"Nope!"

"Then I'm not part of your squad!"

"Fine, fine," Isabelle grumbled. "Miss Clarissa Fray, you are invited to attend a practice of the cheerleading squad of the Institution of New York."

"No."

"All the cheerleaders think that you should," Isabelle said, her blue eyes serious. "Since you've been seen with the three most popular girls in school, you count as popular. Not very, but still popular. Besides, you're small, and don't weight much. You can go at the top of the pyramid."

"Pyramid?" Clary paled.

"Clarissa Fray!" Aline took command. "You swore. Heck, we pinkie promised. You agreed to do anything and _everything_ in _your_ power to take down Jace Wayland. Besides, we said rest of the week."

"Yeah, but you also said three days," Clary retorted.

"I count funny," Alex randomly said. "Three days for me means four days in reality."

"Three days for _me,_" Clary snapped, "is three days. That's all I agreed to."

"Please?" Once again, the three girls were begging.

"No," Clary began to refuse, but then she saw their eyes. Aline's pleading dark eyes, Isabelle's puppy dog pout and Alex's desperation in her blue eyes.

Swearing came from Clary's direction as she muttered, "Damnit. Fine, I'll do it."

"Yay!" Alex clapped her hands like a little girl.

_Lunch the next day..._

"OK, everyone," Isabelle announced. "This is Clary." She pulled the small redhead to her side. Clary smiled awkwardly at the intimidating team of teenagers dressed in revealing outfits.

"Hi, Clary," a brown-haired cheerleader stepped forward and smiled kindly in return. "I'm Bailey, and this is Claire, Isobel, Lauren, Fiona..." She pointed to each girl as she named them, but Clary was a little distracted by the girls' speculating gazes. She couldn't remember anyone's names.

"Are you a sporty person?" demanded Marisa, one of the more obnoxious girls. "I mean, have you done any dance, or gymnastics, or anything like that?"

"I did ballet when I was younger," Clary said, the loudness of her voice decreasing until it was barely above a whisper. Marisa smirked as if to say, 'I knew she wasn't good enough for us'. Clary caught the smug smile.

"Does yoga count?" Clary quipped. "I mean, I am pretty flexible." And to demonstrate her point, she slid out into splits.

Marisa was clearly shocked. "Well, um, not bad, newbie." Clary smiled. Isabelle gaped. The other girls either nodded or smiled. Marisa looked at her thoughtfully.

"I'm going to go teach Clary our routines," Isabelle ordered. "The rest of you, keep practising."

She ushered Clary to the other side of the gym. "Why didn't you tell me you could do the splits?"

"Um, you didn't ask?" Clary ventured. Isabelle scowled, but continued.

"Well, you don't have to worry about Marisa. She may be a bit of a bitch, but she's totally dedicated to the squad. She was just making sure you were good enough. She's extremely loyal – whether to friends or squad. She'll be a lot nicer now, I think," Isabelle added. "I think she likes you."

"Anyway, this is our kind of 'introduction' routine – we do it before the game starts, and then basically we cheer throughout the whole thing. We dance when they score, but only a little. We also do another routine during the break, and then more cheering." She demonstrated their break time cheer.

"Basically, you just have to smile throughout the whole thing. It doesn't matter how tired you are, or how much it hurts. You just smile." To prove her point, she smiled winsomely at Clary.

_What have I agreed to?_

_End of lunch..._

Clary was extremely exhausted – she hadn't expected cheerleading to be so energetic and tiring. Her pale skin gleamed with sweat, and she panted and puffed as she drained a small water bottle. Isabelle smiled at her comfortingly with only a light sheen of sweet covering her skin.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Isabelle reassured her. Quiet footsteps echoed behind Clary, and a smooth voice spoke.

"Hello again, Clary," said Jace. He smiled, his golden curls soaked with water and sweat. "So you're a cheerleader now? Izzy didn't tell me that."

"Yes, I'm a cheerleader," Clary spoke quietly. Already, her slightly confident demeanour had melted away at his intense gaze and hypnotizing eyes.

"Girls, maybe we should give them some privacy," Isabelle acted before she spoke, shooing the cheerleader's away. "I think practice is over."

"Do you like being a cheerleader?" Jace reached up and rumpled his hair, flinging water droplets everywhere. He seemed to have recovered from their first encounter, being once again cool and collected. Didn't her rejection do anything to him? Clary wondered.

"I guess," Clary shrugged, as if cheerleading wasn't a big deal. It was rather uncomfortable – looking up at him all the time was rather annoying.

"Are you sure you don't want to hang out sometime?" Jace asked. He blinked against the dripping sweat and water, and Clary couldn't help but notice the way his long eyelashes brushed against his sharp cheekbones.

Once again, the Aline voice spoke. _If you're creeped out, there's less chance of you liking him_.

"Listen, Jace," Clary began, pretending that she was talking to a particularly stupid child, her voice calm and gentle, but still firm. "I like you, and you're really nice, and all, but I just don't want to hang out." She managed to give off an air of slight revulsion, as if talking to a particularly stupid and ugly child.

Jace was annoyed, but then he saw the shyness in her eyes. He simply smiled. "Then I guess I'll just have to wait." He would wait. Patience wasn't one of his best qualities, but he could do it. And she would come to him eventually. All girls were attracted to him, and most certainly couldn't keep away from him.

He was sure of that. Then he walked away.

**The name Marisa belongs to **_**His Dark Materials**_**. I read it recently, and I really like her name, so I used it. I'm sorry if these last few chapters haven't been my best. Been a little stressed lately **

**Also, thank you to all the people who have reviewed! It makes me feel pretty awesome, so thank you so much. **

**Please, any criticism to this story is welcome, except for flames. Everything else is awesome.**

**Rawr,**

**smileysgoboing**

.net/s/6087938/3/Pride_and_Prejudice_Mortal_Instruments_Style

.net/s/6006273/2/Fallen_Gold


	10. Prepstar

Chapter 10:

**Enjoy the first double-digit chapter!**

"Looks like we're in for a bludge," Isabelle remarked. "Stupid film reviewing stuff. I hate English."

"Still a bludge, though," Clary said. "Hopefully time to study for French after lunch."

"True, true," Isabelle agreed. "So, what film are we watching again?"

"Isabelle! We've been watching this film and studying it since the beginning of school," Clary scolded. "How could you forget?"

"I didn't forget," Isabelle defend herself. "I just... had a really, really long mental black."

"Right."

"Hey, Clary," Jace smiled warmly down at them, and sat down in front of Clary. "Miss me?"

"No, not really," Clary remarked. "After all, who would miss such a conceited and cocky asshole?"

"And who would miss a short tempered, or shall I just say, short annoying redhead?"

"Shut it, you two," Isabelle scowled. Alex's plan was never going to work if Jace and Clary kept arguing and insulting each other. It had been a few days since Jace had seriously tried to ask Clary out. The first few days in between was mostly small talk between the two, but now they had become closer – if you could call it that – by squabbling and annoying each other.

"Haha, pick on the short girl," Clary retorted sarcastically.

"No problem," Jace said. The pair continued bickering, only half serious, until the teacher came in.

"Mr Wayland! Miss Fray!" The stern teacher glared at them. "Must you continue to disrupt my class?"

Clary frowned – she hated getting in trouble. Jace only looked amused. "Sure, why not?"

"No, Miss," Clary immediately apologised.

"I expect better from both of you, as a new student and as a star pupil."

"Yes, Miss," Clary said.

"Sure thing," said Jace. He winked at the teacher, who simply glared back.

"Now, during the exam, you will watch..." The teacher resumed droning about film techniques, and Clary laid her head on the desk, half-listening and half-asleep. Jace rocked on his chair, leaning back to annoy Clary. Isabelle examined her nails.

"Wake up, Cl-"

"Shut up, Jace." Clary cut him off. The rest of the lesson continued as such.

Somewhere in the middle of Clary's timeless daydreaming and doodling, the bell rang. "Yay," she muttered half-heartedly, standing up to poke Isabelle's shoulder.

"Yes, I'm coming," came the mumbled reply. They entered the sea of students, gently pushed and shoved, surrounded by a cacophony of voices.

"Fray, wait up!" The shout came from Jace, shoving his blank book into his bag.

"Oh no, it's you," Clary feigned disgust and pretended to run. He glared, and pulled her to the side of the hallway.

"I'm waiting."

"Do you wanna go out tonight?"

"Sorry?"

"You will be," Jace muttered. "I said, do you want to go out tonight?"

Clary made a noncommittal noise, her eyes scanning the school for Isabelle, Alex or Aline. She couldn't find them.

"An answer would be nice, Fray," Jace prompted. "A yes would be better."

"Maybe," Clary said, trying to delay her actual answer. _If I say no, he might not ask again, and then the plan would be screwed. But what if this is too soon? What if I should wait for him to ask me again? What if – _

"Clary!" said Jace impatiently. "Yes or no?"

"Well, maybe…I'm not ... Um…" Clary trailed off into a confused and uncertain silence, until –

"Uh, yes?" Her voice sounded small and tentative.

"Finally," Jace said, a true smile lighting up his face. "So, I'll pick you up at 7. Okay?"

"Ok."

"See ya at lunch, then," he said, and ran off.

"Bye," Clary said to his retreating back.

* * *

_At Clary's house…_

"Thanks, Mrs Fray," Isabelle smiled at Jocelyn.

"The dinner was really good, Mr Garroway," Alex added.

"It's good to know Clary's making friends here," Jocelyn remarked to them. "And please, call me Jocelyn."

"And if you're going to call her Jocelyn, call me Luke," Luke added.

"Let's go," Clary rolled her eyes.

"Bye!" Aline called as the four headed to Clary's room.

"So, Clary," Alex began. "Anything interesting happen today?"

"No, not really," Clary said casually.

"Did he ask you out?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah."

"What did you say?"

Clary hesitated, then admitted, "I said yes." There was silence from the girls.

"Told you so!" Aline gloated. "I knew it!"

"Stalker much? Clary asked, relieved.

"Well, usually Jace brags about his 'dates' with his teammates at lunch," Aline explained. "If it had been someone not you, Clary, he would have bragged in front of us. But since it was you, he kept quiet. I think he really likes you."

"Yeah, right," Clary snorted.

"And," Aline continued. "You were unusually quiet today at lunch, and you kept blushing a lot when Jace looked at you. Which he does a lot, actually."

"Wow, you really are a stalker," Alex commented.

"So you're not angry?" Clary asked hesitantly.

"Not really," said Isabelle. "We figured it was time for you to be a little... independent, I suppose, and make the decision yourself. It was also a chance to see if you were immune to Jace's charms, which you aren't."

"But if I'm not immune," Clary began. "How am I going to break his heart?"

"You're smart, Clary," Alex said. "We'll find a way."

"But what if I stuff up tonight?"

"Clary, no girl is immune to Jace's charms. Heck, I grew up with him and I find him ridiculously attractive," Isabelle said. "You're the best we're gonna get in this school. Besides, it will make your flirting and liking him more real."

"Tonight?" Aline repeated. "Your date's tonight?"

"Oh, crap," Clary said.

"What time?" Alex demanded.

"Seven."

Aline began planning. "Okay. We have to do outfit, makeup, hair and personality," she announced.

"Dibs on outfit!" Isabelle yelled, running over to Clary's closet. She slid open the mirrored doors, examining the clothes within. "Geez, Clary, your clothes kinda suck."

"Hey!" Clary protested.

Isabelle turned her attention to Clary. "seriously. All you have is jeans and boring shirts. No dresses?"

"I don't usually go on dates," retorted Clary, rolling her eyes.

"Stand up." Clary obeyed, and the three girls circled her.

"I think we're going to have to go casual," Isabelle decided. "We don't know what you're doing for your first date – it could be the movies, or the beach or anything!"

"Casual it is," Aline agreed.

"Let's get to work, ladies," Alex declared.

* * *

_30 minutes later..._

"Are you done?" Aline asked curiously from the other side of the door.

"Yeah."

"Well, come out then!" Isabelle commanded. The bathroom door swung open, revealing the short redhead.

"Is it okay?" Clary whispered.

"It's perfect," said Isabelle. Alex had done a perfect job with her makeup, using only a tiny bit to bring out Clary's natural beauty. Isabelle had chosen her outfit well, selecting a simple white dress and black skinny jeans, and Aline had brushed and smoothed and curled Clary's hair to perfection, creating a cloud of red and orange curls that brushed a bit below Clary's shoulders.

"Thank goodness at least your mom has some fashion sense," Isabelle commented, breaking the spellbound silence.

"So, how am I supposed to act when I'm on the date?" Clary asked. Isabelle frowned at this – she had been so focused on how Clary had looked that she had forgotten all about how she should act.

"Act casual," Aline advised. "We know you can't keep the flirty act the whole time, and then it would be kind of slutty. Jace has to like you for who you are, not how flirty you are or just because you rejected him twice."

"You stole my words!" Alex accused.

"I have that talent," Aline shrugged.

"Is that why you're so smart?" Isabelle wondered.

"Clary! Someone's at the door!" Jocelyn shouted.

"Oh, CRAP!" Clary stood up and attempted to run to the front door. Unfortunately, she tripped over the small steps connecting the corridor to the rest of the house, and landed – completely undignified - on her denim clad butt in front of Jace. Who happened to look extremely hot in simple jeans and a leather jacket. _Blank canvas, blank canvas..._

He laughed, not unkindly. "Hello, Fray."

"Wayland."

"Clary!" Jocelyn admonished. "Don't speak to your boyfriend that way."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"You're going on a date, aren't you?" Jocelyn asked smugly. "Now, shoo! Go enjoy yourselves!"

"Bye, Mom," Clary said, deliberately looking from her mother to Luke.

"Coming, Clarissa?" Jace asked from the doorway.

"It's Clary," she heard herself saying.

"Let's go, then."

**I've been thinking about this... and when I read JWMD, it seemed that Jace had no personality. This is, of course, my own degrading opinion, and I would really love for some honest criticism. People who review saying that they love this story are awesome, but it still doesn't give me much of an idea of what's wrong with the story. **

**Review? **

**Stories that are pretty awesome:**

_**Maximum Ride: She's the Man**_

_**Amazing Cliches**_**, a Maximum Ride fanfic (by **_**Rainbowstrike)**_

_**At your Assistance,**_** A MI fanfic**

_**All's Fair when Love is War**_**, a MI fanfic **

_**Part of the Hunt**_**, a Percy Jackson fanfic**

**If you're looking for any good stories, feel free to check out my favourites – be warned, there are a lot. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**Smileysgoboing **


	11. First Date

Chapter 11:

"Jace! Shut up!"

"What?" he asked defensively, turning to face her. "I didn't do anything!"

"Holy CRAP!" Clary shrieked, her voice higher than usual. "Keep your eyes on the road, Wayland!"

"Huh?" Jace turned to face the road. "Shi– PANCAKES!" He blurted, in order to avoid swearing in front of Clary.

"JACE WAYLAND, I DO _NOT_ WANT TO BECOME A PANCAKE! PULL OVER _NOW_."

Jace swore again, but obeyed, pulling over to the roadside.

"What is your problem, Fray?"

Clary ignored him. "This is not going well," she announced, ruefully blowing a few messed up strands of her hair out of her face. Damn Jace and his speed limit breaking.

"No shi–," Jace began. "No duh, Fray. You keep distracting me."

"It's not my fault!" Clary shouted, exasperated. "You just can't drive."

"I can so drive!" Jace retorted.

"No, you can't!"

"Yes, I ca–," Jace prepared himself for a witty comeback, but stopped.

"What? Little Jace can't think of a comeback?" Clary said in a baby voice.

"That's enough!" Jace shouted. "Look. We're on a date, and I'm pretty sure couples don't argue on their first date."

"We're a couple now?" Clary asked dryly.

"No! Geez! That's not the point!" Jace huffed. "Ok. In order to prevent you blowing up my car or something tonight, I think we should stop arguing. Agreed?"

Clary hesitated – _I don't think this is what Aline meant when she said 'be yourself'_ – and said, "Fine."

"Let's go, then," he said, repeating his previous words.

"So where are we going?" Clary decided to ask a perfectly normal, surprise date question. "Are we going to the movies? Can we see _Inception_?"

"No, Clarissa," Jace said, amused by her childishness. "We are going to the beach."

"The beach?"

"Yes, Fray," he answered. "You know, a beach. Where there is lots and lots of sand, and salty water. At this particular beach, there happens to be a bonfire party, where we shall roast marshmallows, interact with other people, and generally be nice and friendly to each other, which basically means: NO ARGUING."

Clary completely ignored his warning, and the fact that he had called her 'Clarissa' and 'Fray'.

"Marshmallows?"

Jace raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"Drive faster, please," was all she said.

Jace shrugged, but drove faster.

* * *

Jace pulled up at the roadside again, grinning broadly. "We're here," he announced. Clary grinned back, bouncing happily in the seat.

"Let's go eat marshmallows, Jace!" she declared, bounding gleefully out of the car. To his surprise, she came to him, grabbing his hand in order to drag him to the blazing fire. She was stronger than he thought.

"Marshmallows?" asked the girl, smiling beatifically – _like an angel_, Jace thought longingly.

"Here you go, little sister," Jonathon appeared at Clary's side, holding a bag of marshmallows. He glared slightly at Jace, warning him. Jae shrugged nonchalantly in return.

"Marshmallows!" Clary let go of Jace's hand and snatched the bag off her brother. "Thank you! Let's go, Jace." Again, she clutched his hand tightly, yanking him to an empty patch of sand.

"Sit," she commanded, and he obeyed. "Do you have a stick?"

"What?"

"A stick. You know," Clary stared in disbelief down at him, clearly revelling in their new height differences. "A stick, to roast the marshmallows?"

"Ah. Verlac!" Jace called.

"Wassup, man?" Sebastian emerged from behind a tree, a giggling blonde behind him.

"Get me two sticks," Jace ordered. A few other partygoers snickered at the request, but overall, the atmosphere was cheerful and welcoming, a movie-worthy scene of teenagers sitting around the fire, chatting and roasting. It was perfect for his date – if he had brought Clary somewhere else, like a movie, it could have been too… intimate-ish for her, and if he'd brought her to somewhere else where other people, like his basketball team, were, it would have been awkward.

But the beach was perfect for Clary. _Like how perfect she looks…_ Jace glared and mentally whacked himself.

"Here you go," Jace offered Clary the stick.

"Roasting time!" She sang happily, and Jace wondered what would have happened if they hadn't stopped arguing – then shuddered at the mental image of Clary roasting him on the bonfire.

She sat beside him, concentrating fiercely on her marshmallow until–

"Oh no!" Clary cried as her marshmallow liquefied and dropped into the sand. She stared hopelessly at it, before sighing and trying again. "Drat." This time the marshmallow dropped into the fire, burnt to a sad, black crisp.

Jace grinned as he inspected his marshmallow, toasted to a golden-brown perfection. "Mmmmm." He popped it into his mouth, taunting Clary the whole time with sounds of contentment. "Mm, that is _good_."

"Shut up," Clary snapped, and tried again. Same results. The process was repeated a few more times.

"Want some help?" Jace offered, taking pity on the rest of Clary's marshmallows.

She hesitated, then reluctantly accepted. "Fine."

Jace reached over and took her stick, spearing 3 marshmallows onto it.

"Listen closely, young student," Jace intoned. "The key to making a really awesome marshmallow is to rotate it. That way, it gets heated all the way through –toasting the outside , and making the inside nice and gooey."

"Who knew you were such a marshmallow master?" was her sarcastic answer, but she followed his instructions, rotating the stick.

"Too fast," said Jace. "Try a little slower, like this." He leaned over again, taking the stick from her hands again. He carefully turned it, observing the white and pink marshmallows until they were perfect. "Here you go."

"Thanks." They ate in silence – Clary's hyperness seemed to have worn off – but they let the comforting chatter of their peers fill the quiet. "By the way, your marshmallow roasting skills may be good, but your driving sucks."

"Not true!" Jace protested, half-heartedly mourning the silence.

"It is so!" Clary insisted. "You drive like a maniac."

"Can't help–"

"Can't keep your eyes off me?" Clary smirked.

"I can, but you, my dear Clary," he said, "are too distracting.

"First we're a couple, now I'm your 'dear Clary'?" she asked. The awkward silence stretched out when he didn't answer.

"Well, it's getting late. Should we go soon?"

"Late?" Jace snorted. "It's not late."

"Well, we can't just sit here eating marshmallows for the next hour or so."

"Actually," he corrected, "on the way here, you seemed pretty keen to do just that."

"Touché. But I've had enough marshmallows for now."

"Still hungry?" He asked hopefully.

"A little."

"Good," Jace said, grabbing his hand like she grabbed his hand. Savouring the delicate sensation of her hand in his, he pulled her to his car. "Let's go."

* * *

The trip had only taken a few minutes, and now Jace pulled up at an old building, smiling as he did so. "So, my darling Jace," Clary drawled. "Where exactly are we?"

He simply ignored her. "Welcome to the greatest restaurant in New York." Jace swept his arm around, as if to emphasise the age and dirtiness of the building. Clary looked at him sceptically.

"It looks like a prison," remarked Clary.

"But in prison could you order a spaghetti_ fra diavolo_ that makes you want to kiss your fingers? I don't _think_ so," Jace retorted.

Clary glared again. "Where are we?"

"Taki's," he said simply, walking her over to the entrance. He held the door opened as it tinkled, and Clary was surprised at the cosiness of the place – it was warm and well-lit by the bright lights dotting the ceiling. The colourfulness welcomed Clary – the place no longer resembled a prison. It looked more of a cheery diner. They settled into a pink and green booth, and Clary appraised the menu curiously.

"Smoothies? Really?" Clary asked

"Of course they do," Jace said, in a no-duh voice. "This is Taki's."

"I've never been here before."

"You'll come back," he said smugly, and she rolled her eyes.

A pretty blonde waitress strolled over, her nametag identifying her as Kaelie. She assessed Jace with her electric blue eyes as she said, "Ready to order, honey?"

"I'll get the usual," Jace said flippantly.

"Um, I'll get a–" she squinted at the menu, "an apricot-plum smoothie with wildflower honey and an apple pie, please."

"Interesting choice of smoothie, Fray," Jace noted. "And apple pie? Seriously. This is _Taki's_. Get something exotic and delicious, not just a boring old apple pie."

"I like apricots, plums and honey," Clary said. "I also like apple."

"Well, I thought you'd at least get the coconut pancakes," he said, "after our trip to the beach."

"Oh, haha, Jace."

"Just saying."

They chatted for a few more minutes, discussing school and homework and teachers until Kaelie came.

"Here you go," she smiled, handing out a plate of food, a smoothie and a slice of Clary's pie. "Enjoy your meal at Taki's."

"Thank you," Clary said politely.

"See ya," Jace winked.

"Wow, this is great," remarked Clary as she sipped her smoothie.

"And that's just a smoothie," agreed Jace. "Imagine what your pie would taste like." He eyed it hungrily.

"Hey! Eyes of _my_ pie."

"Fine, fine." Clary rolled her eyes yet again, and inhaled the delicious aroma. She dug in, enjoying the contrast of the crispy crust and the smooth, sweet apple. She sat back and closed her eyes, sighing with contentment.

"That is really nice."

"I know," Jace said, chewing on something. He licked his lips and grinned. "That apple pie was pretty awesome."

"Hang on. You ate some?" Clary gasped.

"Growing teenager."

"Obnoxious idiot."

"Feisty redhead."

"Insufferable asshole."

"Hold it, Fray," he interrupted. "Do you remember our 'no fighting'?"

"Yeah. But why didn't you stop earlier?"

"I can't resist having a good argument with you every now and then."

"OK. Stop eating my pie."

"Already have," he said. She scowled at him, but quickly finished off her pie.

"Thanks for bringing me here," Clary said as they stood outside the fabulous restaurant.

"No problem, Jace replied, tawny eyes gleaming in the flickering street lights. "Your mother insisted that I could bring you back any time before midnight."

"Oh my gosh," Clary moaned in embarrassment.

"She seemed keen enough for us to go out," Jace observed. "Does this mean our little Clary isn't as much of a flirt as she seemed?"

They drove to Clary's house, polite chatter filling the what-would-have-been-awkward silence. Clary messed with the radio, trying to find a station that didn't involve songs she didn't like.

"I'm sorry about my car's terrible radio," Jace remarked as he watched her.

"You should be," Clary agreed. She frowned, and pressed a button. Classical music bloomed from the speakers, and she grinned in satisfaction.

"Clair de Lune?" Jace asked with a confused look.

"You know Debussy?" Clary asked.

"Course I do," he said. "I do play piano." She didn't reply, and the piano music filled the quiet, until –

"Oh my god," Clary said suddenly. "Creepiest thought _ever_."

"What is it?" Jace asked urgently, hoping it didn't have to do with him.

"We just had a _Twilight_ moment."

"Oh my god," he said, amused.

"I'm serious!" she insisted. "Bella and what's-his-face listen to it."

"Oh, my god," Jace echoed. "It's actually true."

Clary groaned – "I thought we'd actually found a good station!" – but changed the radio to a pop song. "I'm not sure if this is much better."

Jace shrugged, leaning over to turn off the radio. "I hope that never happens again."

"Man, I hate Twilight," was the reply. Jace heard her muttering phrases like 'ugly as hell' and 'Mary-Sue'. He snorted.

"So… enjoy our first date?" he asked.

"Are you implying there will be more than one?" she retorted.

"Actually, I'm hoping there will be more," he corrected.

"Really.  
"Really," Jace confirmed. "So… about this second date…"

She laughed, and smacked him playfully. Jace winced inwardly. "Eyes on the road, Wayland."

"Yes, ma'am." He pulled up at the side of the road, acting the gentleman as he opened the door for her.

Clary smiled at him, and to her surprise, he leaned forward – _he's going to kiss me!_ – and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "See you 'round, Fray." He smiled happily and drove off.

Clary waved absently - inwardly her Isabelle/Aline/Alex influenced thoughts screamed that it was just a façade, just a play. Her heart told her otherwise.

**Yay! First date! Hope you enjoyed it. BTW, I did use some quotes from **_**City of Bones. **_**I'm also a little sorry if this offended any **_**Twilight**_** fans – it's not meant to be very offensive (as in, mildly, but not extremely)**

**And yes, again, I did quote _City of Bones_, and I used plenty of inspiration off it.**

**Can you believe my computer thought that the word 'smoothie' was wrong? I am absolutely appalled. **

**Another good fanfic:**

_**Night Dew**_**, a MI fanfic**


	12. Hesitation

Chapter 12: 

**I'm so sorry about this late chapter - exams suck. But it's the holidays, for me, and hopefully that means that I'll be writing more. Also sorry about the quality of this chapter - it probably isn't as good as the others.**

**Enjoy!**

_Bzzzzzzzz_.

Clary's phone vibrated quietly and insistently against her leg, causing her to flinch. Only Simon was in this class, and that mean there were several people who could be texting her. Textaholic Isabelle, for one. Maybe Aline, discussing another outfit/hair/makeup pairing. OR maybe it was just a bored Alex or Maia. Clary sighed, and slipped the phone out discreetly.

As she held it, the phone repeated its impatient buzzing, and she swore as she dropped, but caught it. She glared at it, flipping it open to find a message from an unknown number. _Hmmmm._

_Bored, Fray? _Clary stared in confusion at her phone. How did _Jace_ get her number? Who would give it to him? _Oh right. Jonathon, _she remembered wearily, was on Jace's basketball team. Typing a sarcastic reply, she pocketed he phone, suppressing a rueful sigh.

_Fine, Wayland._ Jace grinned as his phone shook, and read Clary's reply. Even from those two words he could imagine her exasperation. He tapped out an obnoxious answer, waiting for her reaction.

_Aw, come on, Fray. You know you want me_ Clary groaned inwardly, wondering how the whole school had ever put up with him. She sent back a threat.

_You know, if you keep being such an arrogant, self-centered and obnoxious jerk, I won't go out with you. _Jace winced, and immediately apologized.

_Can't help being awesome… I mean, I'm sorry; will you go out with me? _She snorted, attracting the attention of the teacher. "Something you'd like to share with the class, Miss Fray?" Clary innocently shook her head, and hit the phone in her pock, furiously, and blindly, typing an answer.

_You idiot! You just gto me in trouble! _Jace shrugged automatically in response.

_Will you still go out with me?_ She groaned, softer this time, cursing his arrogance and annoying-ness.

_I'll think about it. Now, stop bugging me! _Jace sighed, now bored.

* * *

"I hate you for doing this," Clary sulked, sighing hopelessly as the unfamiliar street names whizzed past.

"Hate me for what? Mentally changing your mind so that you would come out with me? Or are you simply jealous that it's totally impossible to resist me," Jace asked.

"Ahem," Clary glared. "Do you not remember my text yesterday?"

"I do."

"And?" she prompted.

"I have to stop being 'an arrogant, self-centred and obnoxious jerk' and that you won't go out with me if I am," Jace quoted. "But look where we are now."

"Wow, you actually memorised it?" Clary asked dryly.

"I always remember compliments people give to me." The comment made Clary groan with exasperation.

"Are you always going to be this annoying?"

"Probably," Jace admitted. "Can't help it. It's all part of my charm."

Clary looked dubious at this. "Your charm. Right."

"I can be oh-so charming when I want to," he said. "Have you not seen the rather long trail of jealous ex-girlfriends?"

"Oh, how could I have missed that?" Her words dripped sarcasm, but he changed the subject before she could continue.

"So, you're not really curious as to where I'm taking you at about 7:30 at night?"

"Not really. You're taking me on a date."

"Finally, our second date has come," Jace sighed. "Took so long for you to agree. Must you continue your efforts to resist me?"

"I must," she agreed. "So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"That was useless." She glared at him, but tried again. "Let me guess… a surprise… that's going to pop up any moment now?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Clary interrupted. "Don't tell me you hired some strippers or something."

"Unfortunately, no. And no, I'm not telling you what your surprise is" he added, chuckling when she pouted. "Don't worry; we're almost at our destination."

"Give me a hint?" she pleaded, pulling the most innocent face she could at him. "Pleeease?"

Jace swore inwardly – her expression was so desperate, and seemed to be saying 'if you don't tell me what it is right now, you're a douche bag and a jerk and I'll hate you forever, so please?' He groaned.

"To a gar–" Jace blurted, then caught himself. "To a surprise place."

She swore. "Damnit, I almost had you."

"Since when?"

"Since you almost told me," she retorted. "Now, what's a 'gar'… garden!" she cried triumphantly.

"So much for a surprise," he sighed, defeated.

"I hate surprises. I love spoilers."

Jace turned his head, and spotted a sign. "Are you sure your spoiler wasn't a road sign?"

She opened her mouth to argue, but closed it. "Shut up."

"Well, at least you were right," he remarked as he pulled up at the garden. "We're here." Clary exited the car, following Jace as he carried a… picnic basket?

* * *

_This place is beautiful_, Clary thought admiringly. The brilliant colours of the flowers were dimmed in the moonlight, but it made everything more mysterious and intriguing. The air was perfect – fresh and cool, perfumed with the scent of flowers.

"Hurry up, Clary," Jace called from where he had set up their picnic dinner. A mat had settled in place, and the mysterious picnic basket was open.

"What's for dinner?" she asked. He whipped out a few sandwiches from the basket with a "Voila!"

Clary applauded appreciatively, and took one. Cheese. Yum. "This is delicious."

"I make a mean cheese sandwich."

"That explains it." They ate as Jace produced more sandwiches and various other picnic foods.

"Still hungry?" he asked, once they had finished.

"What, you have dessert in there?" she snorted.

"No, I have a healthy variation," he retorted, showing her a few apples.

"Ooh, apples."

"I figured you'd like them."

"You figured right." He proceeded to peel them with a small, sharp knife.

"What, no peelers left?" she joked.

"I happen to like knives," he said, mock-offended. He leered suddenly, and asked, "Scared?"

"Absolutely terrified," she replied, accepting a slice of apple. "Nice apples."

"Grew it myself," he answered.

"You grew it?"

"Are you doubting my growing and gardening skills now?" he asked, amused.

"Oh, shut up."

Once they were well into their dessert, Clary asked, "So what is this place?"

"It's the Wayland garden," he said.

Clary was surprised – "Wayland?"

"It's a tribute to my mother," he explained, handing another slice to her. "My parents loved gardening, and my father wanted to create something to remember her." His smile faded.

"It's beautiful," she complimented. "What was her name?"

"Mirabelle."

"That's a beautiful name," she said softly. "This garden is so amazing. I've never seen anything like it."

"You probably wouldn't' have," Jace agreed. "My parents grew flowers native to their homeland – you wouldn't find them here."

The flowers had captured Clary's attention, so they went for a walk. The night blooming flowers were beautiful, but Clary didn't know anything about them, only admiring their beauty.

"What's' this one?" she asked curiously, bending to inhale its fragrance.

"Moonflower," he answered. "And that is a white angel's trumpet."

"They sound… vaguely familiar." He snorted.

"What's this one?" Clary asked. "I've never seen those before." She pointed towards a glossy green shrub, dotted with tightly closed flower buds.

"I can't really remember what they're called," he mused. "My mother always loved them, though."

"Do you miss her a lot?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes," he murmured. "I miss her a lot." She didn't reply to this, staying silent. The quiet was broken by a small beep emitted by Jace's watch.

"Midnight," he remarked.

"Already?"

"Must be." They ambled along, walking slowly, and getting distracted by interesting flowers – neither wanted the night to end, but a rustling noise caught Clary's attention.

"Jace, stop." She pointed to the shrub she had noticed before – the closed buds were trembling and shaking. As she watched, one bud increased in size, and burst open, revealing pure white petals, dusted with golden pollen.

"Did you see that?" Clary turned to Jace, to find him watching her with an odd expression. She ignored it, continuing. "Do you think it blooms every night?"

"I think so," he said.

"We should go."

"Well then," she said. "Let's go." They walked back to their picnic spot, where the mat was packed up along with the leftover food. Clary exhaled heavily – this was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen, and the moonlight made it stunning. _It's so bright_, she thought dreamily, and mid-step, Clary noticed that the moon rays were reflected, a white spark near her foot. She blinked, and realised it was Jace's knife – the one he had used to cut and peel the apples. Hastily, she moved backwards, and bumped into Jace, who automatically wrapped a strong, protective arm around her.

Apologetically, she turned to face him, but he was staring at her again, an unreadable expression in his eyes and on his face. A split second of hesitation, then he bent his head lower, and kissed her.

_Apples_, was the only thought her mind was able to conjure. At first, he remained still and unresponsive, but soon deepened the kiss, his lips sweet and soft, tasting of apples and Jace. He wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her closer to him, and in return, Clary twisted her hands into his golden hair, silky and fine. She could feel her heart hammering, and was pleased to feel Jace's heart beating rapidly as well.

Eventually, he drew away, but kept her in his arms. "It's getting late." She nodded soundlessly, and they climbed into his car. The ride back was different – unusually silent, but filled with unspoken emotion, while their hands lay side by side. He would brush his hand against hers, and electricity would travel up and down her arm, to her heart, making her feel so alive.

About halfway to the house, Jace grasped her hand in his, squeezing it tightly. The contact sent flames shooting up her arm, and it took all her willpower to keep her distance.

She yawned as they reached her house, still not getting out of the car. "Aren't you tired?"

His voice was low and rough as he answered. "I've never been more awake."

He leaned over and kissed her again, gently tangling her hair in his hand, like she had done to him. The other hand held her face tenderly, bringing them closer together.

This time, it was Clary who moved back. "Thanks for taking me to the garden. It was beautiful."

He was still holding her hand, and squeezed it as he said, "My pleasure." His voice sent pleasant shivers through her body, and she let go of his hand, getting out of the car.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he confirmed, his eyes glittering with so many emotions, and she stepped forwards and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bye."

He nodded wordlessly, keeping his intense eyes on her, as he climbed into the car. She walked into the house as he drove off.

To her surprise, she found Isabelle, Alex and Aline sitting in her room, discussing Clary's date. Alex noticed her first, and faced the others.

"I told you they would kiss!" she said, triumphantly.

"You were watching me?" Clary said, half outraged, and half still distracted by Jace.

"Of course we were. How else can we make sure our plan was working?"

"Ah."

"Where did you guys go?" Isabelle bounced up on down on Clary's bed like a child. "Me and Alex wanted to follow you, but Aline was just like, no."

"It would be rude," Aline protested. "Would you want us to spy on your date?"

"You have a date?" Clary asked, amused by the silly arguments. "With who?"

Surprised, she watched as Isabelle reddened a little. "I'm not going on a date!"

"Sure you aren't," Alex sang. "Bet it's Simon."

"No! I don't have a date!"

"Deny it all you want, Isabelle," Clary said softly, patting her comfortingly on her arm. "We'll be here when you decide to confess."

"Shut up. So how was _your_ date?"

"Good."

"That's all you can say?" Aline asked incredulously. "Where did you go?"

"To a garden."

"Let me guess," Isabelle began. "The Wayland Garden?"

Crestfallen, Clary answered, "Yeah." _How did you know? Did he bring _you_ there?_

"Oh, I hated that place," was Isabelle's reply. "The first time we went there, as kids, with Alec and Magnus, me and Alec figured out we were allergic to some of the flowers. It sucked."

"I've never been there before," Aline said. "Never even heard of it before."

"Me too," said Alex.

"I thought it was beautiful," Clary said, sighing with relief on the inside. s

"Well, at least now we're absolutely certain that Jace likes you," Alex said. "When are you guys next going out?"

"Don't know." Clary shrugged.

"Well, I hope it's not soon," Aline declared. "It's so frustrating that we don't' know what you guys are up to. We need to watch you somehow."

"Like a camera?" Clary suggested. "A mini one?"

"Hmmm," Aline nodded thoughtfully. "I'll see."

"Great," Clary grumbled. "Now I no longer have any privacy on my dates."

"You suggested it," Isabelle reminded, but hurried to reassure her. "Don't worry, we'll look away when you guys kiss."

"Time to sleep," Alex announced. "Clary's obviously tired by her late night date, so good night!" She flicked the lights off.

Lying in her bed, Clary couldn't stop recalling her memory of being kissed by Jace. _Stop it, right there,_ scolded the Isabelle voice.

_If you keep acting like this, our plan's never going to work,_ the Aline voice sounded devastated.

_Don't jeopardise our plan, Clary, _said the Alex voice. _Just a few kisses and you can't keep yourself together! You're going to ruin my awesome plan!_

_What if I've already ruined it?_

**Well? Did you like it? Review if you did!**

**Just kidding. Review if you want, and I would love your opinions on this story. **

**Hope you enjoyed their second date/first kiss. It was based on the greenhouse scene in **_**City of Bones**_**, and I did use heaps of inspiration from it. **

**Out of curiosity, did you guys know that there are 3 more books coming out in the MI series? **_**City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls**_** and **_**City of Heavenly Fire**_**. I also can't wait for **_**Clockwork Prince**_** to come out! I wish I had a time machine, so I could go into the future and read the books. **

**I love **_**Clockwork Angel**_**, but Will is so mean! Grrr. **

**Anyway, hope you are enjoying this story. Thank you so much for reviewing, because this is the story that has the most reviews. **

**smileysgoboing**


	13. Whipped

_Chapter 13:_

_**If you misspell Aline, it becomes Alien. It's very, very annoying when you try and type really fast.**_

_**Anyway, since it's Christmas Eve(for me), I'll be releasing bits of this chapter whenever I can, whether it be over the course of a few hours, a few days or however long it takes for me to remember, since I can't on the actual Christmas day. This provides suspense(I hope), Christmas gifts, and time for me to finish the next chapter.**_

_**I hope you like it – reviews are loved and kept in my inbox. Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, Happy New Year's, etc.**_

_**And Happy Birthday to anyone who has a birthday anytime in the next 12 or so months.**_

_**ALSO: you know how you can replace chapter content? Does that turn out as a chapter alert thingy? Please let me know - otherwise you'll all be waiting for another mini post, and I would've posted it, and you would be sad. I hope. **_

_**ANOTHER ALSO: Many, many reviewers/readers have asked whether it will be like the movie, or if Clary and Jace get together, or something along the lines. I'm sorry, but I'm trying not to reveal anything - it may be a surprise, it might not be, but I guess you won't find out. **_

_**But, this is me I'm talking about, so I might forget that I'm not supposed to tell, and tell. **_

_**AND: I'm really, really sorry about these slow updates - working on a Study Series fanfic, which is almost finished, and still half-writing, half-thinking about a MR fanfic. I have a mild case of writer's block, but it's only for this story. I promise/pinky-promise/swear/vow to finish this story, but I have no idea how long it's going to take...**_

__

_**And a dearblank,pleaseblank to be awesome:**_

_Dear Noah, _

_We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5._

_**And another dearblank,pleaseblank to be weird:**_

_Dear Noah,_

_It's ok, we caught the train to Hogwarts instead._

_Sincerely, Unicorns and Dragons_

* * *

"Guess what? I heard that Jace went out with that… new girl over the weekend," a girl whispered triumphantly.

"No way!" her friend gasped. "But I thought he was going out with Roxanne."

"Yeah, but…" As the pair walked away, still enthusiastically discussing Jace's dates, Alex, Isabelle and Aline exchanged a look. Jace was still 'dating' Roxanne, which meant he wasn't focusing on Clary.

Which meant their plan had a new obstacle.

"We have to do something about her," Aline declared.

"So what should we do?" Isabelle shot back. "We can't threaten Roxanne off Jace, and we can't force him to break up with her."

"Well," Alex said calmly, "How long does he usually 'date' girls?"

"3 weeks," Aline answered immediately, to which Isabelle coughed "stalker" into her hands.

"And how long has Jace been going out with Roxanne?" Alex continued.

"2 and a half," Isabelle responded. Aline glared, and muttered, "Now who's the stalker?"

"So," Alex finished. "It's only a matter of time until he dumps her. But Clary and Jace are acting like a couple, and the school will talk, and Clary will eventually "find out about Roxanne", and Jace doesn't want that – so he'll break up with her. Today."

"A little overconfident, my dear," Isabelle drawled. "Today seems a bit… soon, don't you think?"

"Why not?" Aline nodded approvingly. "Clary and Jace have only been out twice, and Roxanne and Jace have been 'dating' for a few weeks, but ever since he and Clary have gone out, he hasn't gone out with Roxanne."

"You're on," Isabelle declared, grinning confidently. "You owe me 5 bucks if Jace doesn't dump that slut today."

"Deal," Alex agreed, shaking Isabelle's hand.

* * *

Alec suppressed another sigh – Jace was eating his food absently, gulping it anxiously as he waited for his new… girlfriend. Soon enough, Clary was spotted approaching the table, smiling shyly. Jace's face lit up instantly, and a welcoming smile tugged the corners of his mouth up.

"Hi, Jace," said the girl softly. Jace simply grinned again, and had her sit. Happiness was evident in her face as she sat next to him, snuggling into him. "Stop acting like I'm your girlfriend."

What else would you be? Alec thought sarcastically. His sister?

"Hey, you might as well be." Jace's honey-sweet voice was gentle as he shrugged. "What, do you want me to make it official?" His teasing was so tender – he was seriously whipped. One – as in, a girl – would call it being in love. Alec referred to it as "being whipped". But whipped Jace was – not the Jace Alec knew. His Jace was a player, a heartbreaker; sleeping with girls, leaving them alone. Basking in the glory of being the Institution's Golden Boy, beating every basketball team there was around them.

But Clary's Jace was sweet and caring, waiting with her, walking her to class, sitting together at lunch. He wasn't focused during their basketball games or practices, always texting and calling, and generally being a lovesick idiot. Geez, they hadn't even had sex. And that, Alec decided, was the worst feature of this new Jace.

A sharp voice penetrated his voice. "Jace, stop being–" For a moment, hope bloomed in Alec, wishful thinking that this-this couple were actually having a fight.

But no. He was wrong. "Clarissa Fray, will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" Alec snickered at the words "do me" but was silenced by three menacing stares from Aline, Isabelle and Alex.

"Jace!" The girl was now thoroughly exasperated, and this Alec could relate to – Jace was extremely annoying.

But not as annoying as – "New girlfriend, Jace?" Roxanne stood behind them, a cocky look in her eyes. God, it's Roxanne. This was the worst of Jace's girlfriends, even worse than Clary. She was clingy, needy – always wanted to have sex with him. Calling him during practice, showing up at his house. It was disgusting behaviour.

"Roxanne," Alec's sister said coldly.

"Isabelle," Roxanne sneered. She surveyed their table contemptuously, ice blue eyes finally settling on Clary. "Oh, look at this." Her voice was fake-sweet and sarcastic, complete with the airs of stating the obvious. "All of Jace's most popular ex-girlfriends, sitting with him. A little desperate, even for you, Alex," she cooed.

"So, Jace," she continued, laying a possessive hand over Jace's shoulder, "Who's this?"

"I'm Clary," Clary said, smiling sweetly. "Jace's girlfriend, if you haven't heard." Alec was mildly impressed by the new girl's guts – no one dared defy Roxanne, except for his sister, Aline and Alex. He watched with interest as Clary's smile disappeared, replaced by a glare.

"Oh, really," Roxanne scoffed. "Didn't seem so keen a moment ago. Besides," she continued, sitting down between Clary and Jace, "I believe that I am Jace's girlfriend. So, back off my boyfriend, bitch!"

Ah, Alec thought with yet another sigh. The name-calling and bitch-slapping begins. "And if you're his beloved girlfriend," Clary retorted. "And you're in such a great relationship, why am I holding his hand? Why is he asking me to be his girlfriend?" Again, Alec was impressed by the girl's witty retorts and guts; his opinion of her was rising a little.

But his opinion of Jace sank as Jace spoke, interrupting Roxanne. "Because Clary is my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?" Roxanne said incredulously. Her mouth shifted into a perfect pout, expression turning into something sad and pleading, yet dangerous and threatening. "But, baby! Our-our love! I-I thought you said that th-that-a-and you said-!" Her stammers quieted underneath Jace's cold stare, fake – or real, Alec wasn't sure – tears slowly running down her face.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jace said coolly. "You're my ex-girlfriend."

"What? Ex-girlfriend?" Roxanne echoed. Her 'tears' soon turned to fury as Clary watched, her silence seeming to provoke Roxanne more..

"Well, you could be a lot worse," Clary said sweetly. "I mean, most people here would, at least, call you a slut, a bitch or a whore. Maybe all three," she added.

"You bitch!" Roxanne bawled. "You think that you, the new girl," and here she sneered the term like it was the worst insult, "can just, oh, I don't know, walk in here and steal my boyfriend?"

Clary's calm shrug angered Roxanne more. "I guess."

Roxanne continued to rant. "You think you can steal my spot? My boyfriend? What are you, some kind of stalker? Just who do you think you are?"

"I think," Clary said coldly, "that I'm Jace's girlfriend. That I'm not your stalker, because honestly, who would ever want to stalk you?"

"You slut!" Roxanne shrieked, standing and stomping her shoes, fury written across her face. She drew her hand back to slap the redhead and–

Jace caught her hand, standing up and towering several inches over her. "Roxanne. Stop."

"Slut," Alex murmured.

"Whore," Isabelle muttered.

"Bitch," Aline added venomously.

"I win," Clary said happily.

Jace was still clutching Roxanne's wrist tightly, and she sagged against him 'helplessly'. Angrily, he hauled her to her feet, and released her. Again, she staggered against his chest, sobbing.

"Jace!" The wail was full of hurt, and her tears were now soaking into Jace's shirt. Clary stood up, and shoved Roxanne off.

Get off my boyfriend," she said, eyes glittering with ferocity. "Don't ever try and confront us again. Got it?"

Roxanne only sobbed harder, moaning and clasping her 'injured' wrist, the one Jace had been holding, to her chest.

"Got it?" Clary strode forwards, and shook Roxanne roughly.

"I've got it," Roxanne sniffed, tears drying up surprisingly quickly. "But get this, Clary," Roxanne snarled, anger returning. "You won't ever forget what you've done to me today. You'll pay for it, new girl. Got it?"

"Oh, I've got it," Clary said happily, and calmly slapped Roxanne across the face hard. Alec suppressed a snort of laughter at Roxanne's expressions, a comical mixture of anger and confusion and hurt.

"And just to make things clearer," Jace added, thumbs flying over his phone. "Might want to check Facebook sometime today."

"Shut up," Roxanne growled, and stormed off.

"Facebook?" Alex asked, confused.

"Facebook," Maia confirmed with a sigh.

"He uses it to confirm who he's dating, and who he's not," Alec said, breaking his small antisocial bubble of quiet.

"Check out my new relationship statues," Jace announced.

They crowded around Maia's iPhone, waiting impatiently for it to load. "Here we go!"

Sure enough, Jace Wayland's relationship status declared that he was now dating Clary.

"Really, Jace?" Aline said dryly. "Facebook?" How extremely impressive."

"You'll see," Alec said.

"Isabelle," Alex sang. "I think you owe me–"

"Shut up," Isabelle growled, slapping some money into Alex's hand. Everyone laughed. Alec thoughtfully watched the scene – the girl herself wasn't too bad, he supposed, but her effect on Jace was disastrous.

* * *

Despite Jace's incredibly dramatic announcement via Facebook – note the sarcasm – no one seemed to believe that he had A. dumped Roxanne, one of the "hottest" girls in the school, or that B. he was dating the _new_ girl.

Amused, Alec watched as a girl – Myra, was it? – slink around Jace, whispering and cooing soft words into his ear. She was dressed similarly to Roxanne, short skirt, high heels and extremely low cut shirt. She was quite pretty, he noted, and if he wasn't gay and dating the over-protective and occasionally jealous Magnus, he would have gone for her.

But unfortunately, _she_ was going for Jace. And he was gay. And he was dating Magnus. It was rather interesting to watch Jace squirm, trying to confirm his relationship with Clary, but no one seemed to believe him.

"…not a stupid little redhead," Jace said firmly. "She's my girlfriend. Not you, Myra, not Roxanne or anyone in this school."

Jace was now attempting to convince Myra this fact, but was apparently failing when Alec saw that Myra was writing her number down. He snorted.

Jace's words came clearly. "I'm not interested in anyone but Clary." And there it was, Alec thought hatefully. The words that had finally convinced Alec that he needed to break Jace and Clary up.

"I know you, Jace," Myra said angrily. "The _real_ golden boy of our school wouldn't have done this. That Jace would have had sex with her, then dumped her, while still dating Roxanne."

Personally, Alec agreed with Myra – the old Jace would have done that. But then again, the old Jace didn't exist anymore.

* * *

_After class…_

"I'm so bored," Aline groaned.

"Then shut up and help us with our homework," Isabelle snapped.

"Noooo, I've already done it. Do it yourself."

"Go spy on Jace," Alex suggested.

"Interesting point," Aline noted. "Hey, where's Clary?"

"Dunno."

"I'm bored."

"Geez, we know," Isabelle said sharply.

"Spy on Jace," Alex said again.

"Again, good idea. Now that I think of it," Aline began, "Jace has been ridiculously just like a normal boyfriend, without the player-ness and dating multiple girls at one time."

"That's good, isn't it?" Alex asked. "I think he's in love with her."

"I think so too," Isabelle nodded, happy to get her mind of maths.

"Something is so wrong with that," Aline continued. "Jace hardly ever does that."

The other two nodded their heads in agreement. "Go spy on Jace."

"Going," Aline said as she headed out the door.

* * *

_Later that day (again)…_

Jace. Was. Dying. Very slowly, he might add, since the ramblings of teammate Sebastian Verlac were torturing him. Driving him to insanity.

"Dude! I can't believe you're dating that redhead. That new girl, right? Is she hot? Clary, right? But what about…"

_Insanity_.

He could only hope that basketball was going to keep him occupied. It always did. Jace welcomed the familiar voices and sights of his basketball team – Alec, Jonathon and many others. The locker room was crowded with the basketball team, and they all stopped when they saw him.

"Yo, Jace."

"Hey, man." Thankfully, the basketball team acted the same, until Verlac resumed his enthusiastic opinion on Jace's girlfriend. Jace found himself saying different variations of the same responses over and over again.

"Yes, Clary's my girlfriend…"

"Yes, I broke up with Roxanne…"

"No, we haven't had sex yet…"

"Yes, Clary is hot…"

The strange but brutal interrogation continued until basketball practice, where Jace managed to trip himself and several teammates, and missing a few throws and shots, and began right after.

"Seriously, dude," Alec began. "What is wrong with you? You can't catch, you can't shoot."

"You're clumsy as hell," another boy added.

"He's _whipped_!" Sebastian cried. Jace imagined that the sound of girls squealing over a new piece of gossip would sound similar, if not the same. Sebastian gossiped like a girl, discussing and analysing the school hierarchy.

The rest of the team mumbled agreements, nodding heads and muttering "Yeah" every now and then. Sebastian continued convincing that Jace was indeed whipped, using his new relationship status and basketball mistakes as evidence. Exasperation drove Jace to the showers. When he returned, they were still discussing him, but agreeing more strongly on the matter.

"Yeah, he never sits with us anymore…"

"All he can think about is Clary…"

"He sucks at basketball…"

"I _can_ hear you, you know," Jace said sharply.

"So _listen_ to this, Jace," Sebastian said firmly. "We've been discussing your reputation, and it all comes down to this: you're whipped."

"Whipped, by that angry little redhead you call your girlfriend," Alec added.

"No! I'm not whipped," Jace shouted.

"Yes, you are!" Sebastian yelled back.

"You _are_ totally whipped," Alec said calmly. "I would know."

"And how would you know?" Jace snarled.

"Dude, you usually go out with three girls at once, have sex with them for at least 3 weeks, break up, and start again."

"And your point is…"

"You've been dating Clary for about, oh, I don't know, a week," Alec explained, "And you've already broken up with Roxanne, and you haven't had sex."

"So what?" Jace asked furiously. "That doesn't mean anything! So what if I haven't had sex with her yet?"

"So what?" Sebastian echoed. "Man, you've changed. The old Jace would have seduced her the first day, or something. And now look at you; you don't even _care_ about having sex!"

Jace was clearly losing the argument. "Who says I don't care?"

"We do!" The entire basketball team was now screaming and yelling at Jace.

"WELL, I DO!" Jace bellowed. "I'LL PROVE THAT I'M NOT WHIPPED."

His declaration was met by cheers and claps on the back.

"Just between us guys," Jace smirked, "I reckon I'll be scoring more than baskets at our next game. What do you think?"

Again, more cheers.

"I'M NOT WHIPPED!" Jace hollered. The locker room was full of cheering, each boy so distracted that no one noticed a tiny little red light from behind a closet.

Aline pressed the stop button, and turned off her video camera.

* * *

**Herro, readers!**

**Again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story – it makes me feel so happy. I love holidays. So much. I sit around, watch movies, read and write. Very, very fun.**

**Does anyone watch Gossip Girl? Some parts are pretty funny, like when Chuck says, "There's something in my stomach. Fluttering." **

**I'm sorry if that was random. **

**Teehee,**

**smileysgoboing **

_Dear Noah, _

_We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5._

_Sincerely, Unicorns. _

Sincerely, Unicorns.

* * *


	14. Ring of Fire!

Chapter 14:

_In the evening…_

Aline wasn't quite sure why she was doing it. Showing Clary the video? What was the purpose of that? What did it show? That Jace was still a sex-crazed maniac, pressured by his friends and teammates. That he thought Clary was hot. That he didn't actually _like_ Clary.

Why?

Oh, what the hell. She plugged the camera into her laptop, clicking and typing when needed, spinning the computer around for them to see.

"Watch," she ordered, then pressed play. The sigh of the boys was obscured by the grills in the door, but provided a clear enough view for them.

The sound was perfect. Everything they said was audible.

"_Who says I don't care?"_

"_We do!"_

"_WELL, I DO CARE! I'LL PROVE THAT I'M NOT WHIPPED."_

Cheering.

"_Just between us guys, I reckon I'll be scoring more than baskets at our next game. What do you think?"_

More cheering.

"_I'M NOT WHIPPED!"_

Aline closed the laptop and surveyed her friends. They were all dumbstruck, staring in…anger (Isabelle and Alex) and horror – Clary. Aline also noticed that Clary looked dangerously close to tears. Naturally, she jumped to the conclusion that Clary had fallen for Jace, but buried it. No, she did _not_ want to believe that the plan was ruined. They would have to wait, and see.

_Remain calm_, Aline ordered herself. She had tremendous willpower, capable of staying awake and studying for hours for the exams, of controlling her emotions – of getting what she wanted. She was persistent, and that always paid off.

_Calm_. "I think we have a problem," she said lightly.

Isabelle composed herself, and shook back her hair. "It-It's just a blip," she said, giving Aline the feeling that Isabelle was reassuring herself more than the others. "Just a tiny, tiny bump in the road of getting revenge, and we will get over it."

"Are you kidding me?" Alex spat. "This is a disaster – how the hell are we going to fix this?" She continued ranting, pacing agitatedly around the room.

They turned to Aline. "What are we going to do?"

Clary spoke up at last. "What can we do? The plan is ruined."

"Jace was obviously lying," Isabelle said desperately. "He really, really likes Clary, and-and he was just… just showing off!"

Alex opened her mouth to retort rudely, but Aline spoke first. "Isabelle could be right," she said, keeping her voice calm and reasonable. "Publicly, Jace acts like he really, really likes Clary. He pays more attention to us than he paid to any other girlfriend of his. But I think that his teammates are getting a little freaked out by the way he sits with her, and not with them, and why he's distracted all the time, and he's willing to make a half-lie to placate them."

"So, he is lying?" Isabelle asked hopefully.

"Probably," Aline said, "but there is a chance that he'll try to get Clary in bed sometime soon. She will say no, and then…"

"And then?" Alex prompted.

"I have no idea," Aline admitted. "There's a possibility that he could dump her, or maybe, if he really likes her, he'll wait."

"What an idiot," Isabelle sighed.

Clary said nothing.

* * *

She felt… depressed.

Heartbroken.

Sad.

Betrayed.

Hurt.

Furious.

Guilty.

Disappointed.

Like she was drowning in emotion.

Depression, heartbreak, betrayal – all that was the normal reaction of any girlfriend who'd found out she was being used by her boyfriend.

Guilt and disappointment – that was the reaction of a girl who'd schemed her way to her boyfriend's heart, fallen in love, had her heartbroken by the fact the he was still using her, and thought that she'd changed him. As well as having the plan ruined. Destroyed.

The plan had been a shaky, unstable thing, that needed a few… elements, or factors.

That Clary would not fall for Jace

That Jace did not find out about their plan

That Jace would fall for Clary

That Clary would stay with them, and not destroy the plan

And that was it. The plan could have remained _fine_, but her heart had completely rebelled. And now it was insisting that it _wasn't her fault_. This had some resemblance of truth in it – if Aline had not stalked Jace and recorded him, then everything would have been okay. She wouldn't have been heartbroken.

But she wouldn't have been heartbroken if she _hadn't fallen for Jace_. But she had. She had loved him so, so much, and had been so, so certain that he loved her back. But he hadn't.

Technically, it was also Jace's fault – if he hadn't been such a player, such an egoistic man-slut, than Aline, Isabelle and Alex wouldn't have had the need to get revenge. And if those three had been content with their status of ex-girlfriend, and one of the 'queens', they never would have made the plan.

If Alex hadn't been talking so loudly during class, Isabelle and Aline would have never found out. That would have also meant no plan.

But then, she, Clary, had to go explain _everything_, and trigger their revenge.

So, really, it was her fault.

Clary hauled herself out of the car seat, completely ignoring Jonathon. She knew that he'd been sick yesterday, and didn't attend that basketball session, in which Jace… broke her heart.

She was still drowning, drowning in the guilt and the hurt and the betrayal. It was a burden, a weight that only she could bear. But for how much longer?

If she talked to… Simon, or Maia, they'd tell her to stop the plan, because it was wrong to punish Jace like this. Sure, he had done many, horrible things like break girls' hearts, but that didn't mean that Clary had to go punish him.

If she talked to Isabelle, or Alex, or Aline, they would be very, very upset, angry or disappointed, because she fell for Jace. They would tell her, that they had done that too, and he had broken their hearts, and look at this – he was breaking hers already. It would also mean that the plan would stop, because she wouldn't break up with Jace, Jace would go unpunished – more like rewarded, with this wonderful new girlfriend – and that would mean the Isabelle, Alex and Aline, and the rest of the girls in the school would be angry with Clary, for screwing up the plan.

Which was why she could not hint at, could not breathe a word of, could not talk about, could not text/IM about, or give any sign or hint about how she felt. But Clary was sure that Aline knew – Aline was smart, intelligent, maybe even cunning. She was intuitive, and would use this intuition to guess that Clary had fallen for Jace. After all, Clary had given it away yesterday, with her almost-tears.

"Clary!" _His_ voice called, familiar and comforting, yet it broke her heart (again) to remember that same voice shouting at his teammates.

She mustered a smile, and held it as he approached. "I've missed you," he said, giving her a kiss that, on a normal day, would have weakened her knees and made her heart sped up. The normal reaction was dulled, muffled by all her guilt.

It was like being another, normal heartbroken teenaged girl, but with a whole lot more… guilt, of everything. Clary choked back a tear-ridden laugh at the thought of being normal, but sobered as she remembered the reasons to the anguished feelings.

A small tear leaked out.

Immediately, Jace noticed, and he hugged her tightly – even though he had no idea he was part of the reason for her tears.

"Clary," he said very gently, "What's wrong?" At his 'loving' response, she pushed him away, wiping her tears as she hurried away. But he caught up with her quickly, and held her again, comforting and soothing her. Clary felt content – happy, even, in his arms, but oh, God, she _really_ had to stop crying.

But the tears wouldn't stop streaming down, and Clary _knew_ that she was completely destroying the plan – ripping it to tiny, tiny, miniscule little shreds, and setting the shreds on fire. But she couldn't help herself – Jace was still her boyfriend, no matter what he'd said, said he'd done or would do, and she still loved him so much it broke her heart.

She took a breath, and blinked the tears away, smearing them over her face in attempt to wipe them off. "Go away, Jace."

"What?"

"Get away from me, Jace," she repeated, emphasising it with a little shove and turning away.

"Clary," he said, catching her hand. "What's wrong?"

A hysterical sort of anger came over her then – a fury, tinged with incredulity and the feeling that made her want to be alone for the rest of her life. "What's wrong? You! You are what's wrong with me!"

He stopped and stared, golden eyes confused. "What did I do to you? You're my girlfriend!"

"No, I'm not!" she said loudly – loud enough to convey her anger, but soft enough to detract attention. "No boy would treat his girlfriend like a sex toy – but oh wait. You have. You've treated all of your girlfriends like that!"

"I have done nothing of the sort!"

"But you were planning to!" she retorted, and the tears slipped out again. "I _loved_ you, Jace, and you used me! Like, like I wasn't even a person!"

"I didn't use you! I was never plann–"

"Yes, you were, Jace," she said quietly. "Wasn't it just _yesterday_ that you were bragging to your basketball team?"

"No-no I didn't," he said, shock evident on his face and in his voice. "Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Does it matter? You _lied_ to me."

"I only lied when I said I liked you," he admitted, looking down at the grass. Clary gaped and backed away. Jace looked up and caught her with his mesmerising eyes.

"I lied, because I love you. I don't just like you, Clary. I love you. I love you so much. I have been completely in love with you, from the moment I saw you."

As she stared incredulously at him, he looked away, eyes bright and ferocious. "You don't get it? I love you. I L-O-V-E you, Clary," he said, catching her hands once again. He wriggled a silver ring off one of his fingers and showed her.

"Do you see what this is, Clary?" he asked her softly. "It's the Wayland ring - it was my mother's. And now – see? See?" Jace held up the ring, speaking louder to attraction attention. "See, everyone? This was my mother's, it was mine – it was my most valuable possession, and it now belongs to Clarissa Fray."

Gently, he slid the ring onto her finger, and lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. "Happy?"

"You," Clary began, "are the most clichéd, most idiotic, and…and…and the best boyfriend I've ever had. I love you too," she added softly, gently pressing her lips onto his.

"I already knew that," Jace answered with a smirk.

**Diiid you like it? This comes from the scene which you probably already know when John gives the watch thing to Kate. Except, the ring seemed cooler.**

**Hopefully, hopefully, I'll be updating sooner, but I am starting school soon (few weeks), and will be freaking out too much to write. Maybe.**

**I can't promise you anything, but you can hope for a chapter or two for the rest of January. Maybe more. Maybe not. Maybe even a new story. But not necassarily MI.**

**smileysgoboing**


	15. KABOOM!

Chapter 15:

**Helllooooo! I'm sorry about the lack of updates - writer's block, I think. It sucks. My new aim is to have finished this story by the end of January, and there's only about 2 or 3 chapters left until it's finished. I love all my reviewers, and thank you for reviewing. **

_He loves me, he loves me, he loves_ me_,_ Clary sang silently in her head, smiling at everything in general. Alex poked her suspiciously.

"Clary? Claaaaary."

"Wake up," Isabelle commanded. "Time to continue with our plan." The significance of the words woke Clary up.

"Hi."

"Anyway, it's time to continue with our plan," Aline said. "You're his girlfriend. He _publicly_ announced that he loves you. And now it's time for you to break his heart."

"Revenge is sweet," Alex sighed. "And a dish best served cold."

"Definitely," Isabelle agreed, grinning wickedly.

"Revenge is ice-cream," Alex finished.*

"I like ice-cream," Clary said.

"Back to the plan," Aline said sharply. "Let's say… next week, Monday."

"Why not tomorrow?" Alex pouted.

"Because, he only said he loved her _yesterday_," Aline explained. "We give him time to relax, to enjoy their relationship and let down his guard because he thinks Clary loves him. Then, when he's weak and vulnerable, we strike."

"Break his heart!" Isabelle cheered. Clary frowned in concentration.

She thought about Jace. Thought about the plan. Thought about her. She couldn't follow through with the plan. She didn't want to break up with Jace to humiliate him and break his heart. But she didn't want to disappoint Aline or Isabelle or Alex – they were her friends, and Jace _did_ deserve a little justice. But did he? He was perfect to her – she knew he wasn't dating anyone else or anything. He was changed. Different.

Clary knew it. Her friends wouldn't believe it.

This meant that Jace _didn't_ need his justice. She didn't need to break up with him. They could go on being all coupley and what not. But what about Isabelle and them? Clary wondered. How would they feel? No Jace and no revenge.

But what was the point of getting revenge? Would it solve all of their problems? Maybe. Maybe not.

_I can't hurt him,_ Clary concluded. _I love him._

"…be subtle, like let him down slowly, or be harsh and brutal… Harsh and brutal it is," Isabelle declared.

"So what, Clary's just gonna walk up to him and say, 'You're a bastard and I'm breaking up with you'?" Alex asked.

"I'm not-I'm not going to say anything," Clary said firmly.

"Ooh, are you just going to slap him? In front of everyone, I hope," Alex added.

"Of course not," Clary said, disgusted. "What I meant-mean is that…I can't do this anymore," she blurted.

Alex stopped mid-grin. "Clary," she warned.

"Yes, you can," Isabelle coaxed. "Of course you can do it. It's not that hard."

"Yeah, all you have to say is 'I don't think this is working' or better yet," Alex said excitedly, "You could use the same break up line he used for us!"

"Yeah! First, he asks 'Can we talk?' and then he goes 'You know there's only one girl for me, but… I don't think that girl is you. I mean we've had a fun run but I'm ready'," Isabelle gushed, "to find something deeper, more complex. So. We good?'"

"Wow, you memorised that?" Alex asked in a slightly disgusted manner. "But yes, the same idea that he's not 'the one' for you, so more like a–"

"I'm not doing it."

"Excuse me," Alex said in a mock-offended tone, "I was speaking. Anyway, if I could break up with Jace again, I would be like, 'Jace, you know there's only one guy out there for me. And you're not him.' And then I'd smile really, really cheesily and walk away!"

"I'm not doing it."

"What do you mean you're 'not doing it'," Isabelle asked incredulously.

"I'm out of here," Clary said, still trying to calm her rapid heartbeats. "I can't hurt Jace, or anyone else like this anymore."

"Why?" Alex demanded.

"Because-because I–" Clary hesitated.

"Because she loves him," Aline said coldly.

"Yes, I love him," Clary said, feeling a sense of courage bravery – or maybe stupidity – as she continued. "I love Jace, and I just can't hurt him like that. Already, I feel so, so guilty, because I feel like I've been leading him on! And I knew that I would have to break up with him, but I can't and I won't, because Jace is my boyfriend, and I love him."

"Clary, we were just like you," Isabelle said, her smile gone. "Exactly like you – we were totally in love with Jace, and thought he was the one. And look what he did to us? He broke our hearts, and all we want is justice."

"I-I-I can't do this, okay?" Clary stammered. "This kind of justice is _wrong_. It's _wrong_ to mess with people's hearts and emotions."

"Oh, kind of like what you've been doing since the beginning of the year?" Isabelle said nastily. "Like it or not, Clary, you've been helping us _willingly_ for this whole plan. You haven't exactly been a saint."

"I'm stopping now," Clary retorted.

Aline paused, noting that Clary was starting to hesitate. "Clary," she said soothingly. "Think about us, your friends. Like Isabelle said – we were just like you, and Jace dumped us. How did you feel when you saw that video?"

"I felt… hurt," Clary answered. "Betrayed. Definitely heartbroken."

"We felt like that," Aline said, "and so did every other girl that he's dumped. Now, imagine if he dumped you, after you guys just had sex or something. How would you feel?"

"Hurt. Outraged. Angry. All the same as before."

"And this outrage leads to the need to get revenge on Jace," Aline finished. "Do you understand now?"

"I…" Clary was silent for a moment. "I understand."

"Finally," Alex sighed. "Now, about breaking–"

"But that doesn't mean I'll go through with the plan," Clary continued. "You keep saying that you want to get revenge on Jace, and I understand why. But why? What will you do once I break up with Jace, huh?"

"Be extremely satisfied?" Isabelle raised an eyebrow.

"No, you won't be!" Clary shouted. "You guys have a problem. You are _all_ obsessed with Jace."

"We are not obsessed," Aline said, offended.

"Yes, you are," Clary said, crossing her arms and lifting her chin. "You are obsessed with Jace. Even before you were dating him, it was always about Jace! And then, when he asked you out, it was even _more_ Jace! More! And now, that he's dumped you, you are even more obsessed than before."

She took a deep breath. "It's always about Jace! And you're just trying to get revenge, and prevent me from being the happiest I've ever been in my whole entire life. I've never had any real friends before, and now look at me! I have the perfect boyfriend, who I love, and who loves me back. I have two very good friends in Simon and Maia. And I _thought_ that I had 3 girls, who, until now, I thought were my best friends."

"Clary, wait–"

"Obviously, you're not," Clary concluded. "But I still have Jace, and we love each other. He'll never hurt me. I still have Simon and Maia."

Isabelle was red. "We've done everything for you!" she screamed. "Without us, Clary, you would've been the little, loner nobody who doesn't do anything! We took you under our wings, and this is how you repay us? We did everything for you – we gave you popularity and friendship and 'the perfect boyfriend' and this is how you repay us? God, that's _so_ clichéd," she added in a pained voice.

"I'm leaving," Clary said quietly.

"No, Clary, listen to us," Alex interrupted. "Do you remember this?" She spun around, and tapped and clicked on Aline's laptop.

"… _bring down Jace Wayland."_

"_And I, Clarissa Fray, swear to try everything and anything in my power to bring down Jace Wayland."_

"There," Alex said triumphantly. "Do you see it? You swore. Anything and everything. And look at you now."

"So what?" Clary cried. "I'm breaking it, because I love Jace."

"So what?" Isabelle echoed. "It matters, Clary, because we were so close – so incredibly close to getting revenge on Jace, and you _ruined it all_."

"Are you willing to risk the unhappiness of the entire school just for one guy?" Aline asked softly.

"Who said it was the whole school?" Clary shouted.

"We do!" Alex yelled. "Think about it Clary – every single girl in the whole school under Jace's spell. He's slept with the majority of them, and what do you think his friends would think? Oh, sure, they congratulate him and all, but deep down, they're all jealous! Hardly any of them have a girlfriend, because of Jace. They would be _glad_ to see Jace humiliated properly just for a while."

"Like I said," Clary said calmly, "you are all obsessed with Jace. Girls want to be with him, guys want to be him. Do you really think that a little humiliation would fix all this?"

"A little humiliation?" Isabelle shrieked. "Clary, Jace has broken every girl's heart. To see Jace's heart broken is giving him a taste of his own medicine."

"Just go, Clary," Aline said coolly. "Don't expect us to welcome you back when Jace dumps you." Her voice had a certain tone that made Clary think that Aline knew exactly what she was saying was going to come true.

"Fine, then," Clary said forcefully. "I'm leaving." With that, she slammed the door shut.

* * *

*** Revenge is ice-cream. The idea is not mine, and MLIA takes credit for it. Read MLIA. Google it. Read it.**

**If you look at the _Twilight_ communities, there's one that's for stories that have 1000+ reviews. They're pretty good, and I recommend _Unknown Caller_, by AlwaysMyBella. It's very cute, and sweet, and possibly cliched, but I like it. Which means it must be good, because I don't really like Twilight.**

**Anyway, has anyone read the story _Matched_, by Allie Condie? I haven't read it yet - it looks good. **

**I love _Tangled_. It is very, very hilarious. Watch it.**

**rawr,**

**smileysgoboing **

* * *

Also read _dearblank,pleaseblank_. It's pretty funny. Sample:

_Dear 6,_

_Please stop spreading rumours about me eating 9. You shouldn't be talking. I hear you guys do some pretty nasty things._

_Sincerely, 7_

* * *

**I hope you liked that, and I have some stories to recommend for you! Yay!**


	16. Stalker

Chapter 16:

**OK! Chapter 16 (see above). I really am sorry about this lateness, but I've just started writing chapter 19, and then there's 19, 20 and the epilogue. Thank you all for being awesome readers/reviewers (hint hint) - I love you all. **

"…hungry," Clary heard Maia say. She smiled at that – Maia was always hungry. There were small laughs from around the table.

Clary approached hesitantly, standing before her friends and ex-friends and a guy who was never her friend to begin with. "Hi, guys."

The conversations died down as everyone looked at Clary, before resuming at a louder level. Aline was helping Jonathon with some last-minute homework; Isabelle was talking excitedly with Simon. Alex and Alec were chatting politely, and Maia was eating. Jace was nowhere to be seen.

There was hardly any space, and no one has moved aside to offer her a seat, or even bothered with a greeting, except for Simon's small nod. Not even her own brother had noticed her. She sat awkwardly next to Alec, half sitting on the bench. Without missing a beat, Isabelle's brother shifted away from her, providing more space.

Hope filled Clary at the thought that she wouldn't be excluded from this lunch, like she had at the lunch yesterday, and the day before that, as she found a more comfortable position. She accidentally nudged Alec, and the boy turned, his cold stare killing any hope she had.

Clary ate her food quickly, hoping to get out of the bubble of awkward silence around her and find Jace. The table was alive with conversation, but she was silent. But not for long.

"Simon," Clary said over-brightly. "What do you think of Romeo and Juliet?"

Hesitation. "Um, I think it's okay," he answered. Clary looked away awkwardly; on any other, normal day, he would have launched into a rant about how stupid they were. Today, however, he kept quiet, and, after a few moments of silence, he resumed his talk with Isabelle, who had a small, smug smirk on her face.

Clary gritted her teeth in irritation and forced a smile. "Isabelle," she called. No response. "Isabelle!"

The black haired girl glanced in Clary's direction. "Isabelle, have you seen…? Isabelle!" Clary said loudly. "Izzy! Do you know where… never mind."

Sighing, she quietly left the table – nobody seemed to notice, and if they did, they didn't care. Alex and Isabelle shared a smirk as she walked away. The conversations continued, as if she had never been there at all.

A sort of hopelessness settled over Clary as she realised that she had pushed all of her friends away, and that they would probably never forgive her. She wondered what would have happened if she had never met Jace – maybe she would be sitting with Simon and Maia, talking and discussing the school hierarchy.

But no – she was Jace's girlfriend, and everyone at her table seemed to hate her.

* * *

"Clary!" Maia exclaimed brightly, hugging the small girl tightly. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"What do you mean?" Clary asked.

Simon cleared his throat and nudged Maia. "It's nothing, Clary," he reassured. "Welcome to the glorious Lewis-Wayland house."

"It's…amazing," Clary sighed as she glanced around at the stylish, 3 story home.

"Too big, I think," Simon shrugged. "After growing up in a small, cosy cottage, this is enormous and empty."

"We need to have a little chat," Maia declared, leading the way to Simon's room.

"About what?"

"About… stuff," she answered mysteriously.

"And, welcome to my room." Simon gestured grandly at the big room. "Bathroom through that door."

"Okay, down to business," Maia announced. "So, Clary, where were you three nights ago?"

"Three nights ago?" Clary said, puzzled. "Oh! I was with Aline, and Isabelle, and Alex."

Silence, then–

"Oh. Oh, my god, I'm so sorry!" Clary exclaimed. "I must've forgotten, and I am so, so sorry, Maia."

"This…this isn't the first time you've forgotten," Simon said flatly.

"I'm so sorry, Maia," Clary said again. "But like I said, I was with Isabelle and them, and you didn't call or text me or anything. I'm really sorry," she said sincerely.

"As you should be," Maia said triumphantly. "But, tell me, Clary: what was so important that night? So incredibly important that you, oh, I don't know – forgot my birthday?"

"Um, happy birthday?" Clary offered weakly. It was hard to tell whether Maia was truly angry with her or not. "Look, no one told me! How was I supposed to know?"

"Clary, it's not just about my birthday," Maia said sharply. "You've changed. When I first met you, you were sweet, caring, smart and down-to-earth. And now? You're obsessed with popularity. You spend all your time with Aline and them. You're mean, you gossip, and you don't think about anything, or anyone, else!"

"Yes, I do!" Clary said, stung. Already, she was arguing with her friends, and it had been less than a day since the fight with Isabelle and them. "I care about school, and my grades, and I care about my family and my friends, and I care about you guys!"

"Do you really?" Maia asked silkily.

"Of course I do!"

"No, you don't!" Maia snapped. "All you care about is how you look, or-or what you wear, or what Aline will think, or what Isabelle will say! But the most important thing to you is Jace! Ever since you started going out, it's always Jace this, or Jace that! You never pay any attention to me, or Simon!"

"Jace is my boyfriend!" Clary retorted. "He has every right to my attention!"

"Attention? It's more like obsessed!" Maia snorted. "You're so selfish, Clary! Always worried about your popularity!"

Clary stared wordlessly at the floor, before her burning green eyes met Maia's. "You have _no idea_ what I've done, what I'm doing, or what I could do," Clary hissed. "Everything that you say I am – hanging out with Aline and them, acting like them – it's not for _me_."

"And who's it for then? What the hell are you doing, that involves you, but isn't _for_ you, Clary?" Maia challenged. "Why is it so important that you constantly ditch your friends?"

"I can't say," Clary said stubbornly. "It's between me and Aline and Isabelle and Alex."

"And _I_ can say that you're still lying," Maia said angrily.

"I'm not lying!" Clary cried.

"Then tell us the truth!"

"I can't!"

"Then how are we supposed to believe you?" Simon asked quietly.

"You-you just have to trust me," Clary said, feeling foolish.

"We obviously can't!" Maia snapped. "You don't trust us, so how can we trust you?"

"I'm getting revenge on Jace…by breaking his heart," Clary whispered.

Maia laughed. "You? Get revenge? Jace has done nothing to you. He hasn't cheated on you, hasn't got another girlfriend, or anything. Unlike everyone else," she added.

"Like I said, I'm doing this for everyone else. Not for me."

"Clary, are you serious?" Simon blurted. "How could you be so heartless? Jace loves you. You love him. Why would you do this?"

"You've seen what he's done to the whole school!" Clary explained. "He's broken all the girl's hearts. Maia, you were Jace's girlfriend once too. I thought you would understand – you know he's a player. You know what he does."

"I know I do!" Maia burst. "And I don't like Jace, that's true, but what you're doing is wrong. It's cruel, and wrong, to break someone's heart like that. You are Jace's true girlfriend, and he loves you, and you're just gonna break his heart? That is wrong, Clary."

"Simon." Clary turned to him. "You've lived in Jace's shadow. Every boy has, and you maybe more than others. I mean, aren't you sick of hearing about Jace this, and Jace that? I thought you would understand."

"All this stuff you've said about Jace breaking hearts, and us living in his shadow is true," Simon said, "But getting revenge won't help anything. Jace has changed, because of you. What do you think breaking his heart will achieve, Clary?"

"Clary," Maia began. "No matter how much Jace annoys me, or I poke him, or call him names, what you're doing is wrong, and cruel. I mean, Jace is completely in love with you. With you, Clary, and you're just gonna go break his heart for something he's never done, and will never do, to you."

Clary sighed. "Forget it," she said softly, picking up her bag. She turned to the door and walked out, expecting darkness and silence like when she'd come. Instead, the lights were on, and leaning on a wall, was Jace.

* * *

**Cliffhanger? Good? Predictable? Probably. I am totally expecting my email inbox to be filled with reviews from you guys. If you don't, you're crushing the hopes and dreams and any self-worth I, as a young writer, have. **

**Kinda like that, but smaller. I'm bored. Entertain me with reviews! Please!**

**I'm hungry.**

**smileysgoboing**


	17. Persuasion

Chapter 17: 

**Ok. I am super duper sorry for the super late update. Hehe. It rhymes. School has started, as well as homework, which, along with a mild case of writer's block, is stalling this story. **

**A huge bear hug, in which I squeeze you until your ribs break, for everyone who has reviewed this story. Reviews mean a lot to me, and I'm sure they mean a lot to every author. **

**And here is the seventeen chapter. The beginning of the end. the end. And a happy potato.**

**And Happy Chinese New Year!**

_Jace_. She stared at him blankly, horror and guilt freezing her to the spot. There was no witty retort, no sarcastic comment; no expression on his face, no emotion in his eyes. He pushed off the wall, walking silently towards his room.

"Jace, I can explain," she begged, her body unstuck thanks to the overwhelming urge to admit everything and get it over and done with. "Just wait, please–"

"I heard shouting from Simon's room," he said quietly. It seemed impossible to tell what he was feeling – was he angry? Upset? Confused? "I couldn't help overhearing what Maia said."

Clary recalled Maia's last words. _…What you're doing is wrong, and cruel. I mean, Jace is completely in love with you. With you, Clary, and you're just gonna go break his heart for something he's never done, and will never do, to you._

It was obvious that he had pieced it together – the pranks, the hanging out with Isabelle, Aline and Alex, the accusation that led to their love confession and ring.

The guilt washed over her – Jace's ring had been his mother's, his most valuable possession, and he'd given it away to her. Given it away to a girl he loved, and who had planned to break his heart.

Jace turned to face her. "So, you were planning to break my heart?" he asked conversationally. "Was it something I said? Something I did? Something I never did?"

Clary shrank away. "Yes, I-I planned to break your heart," she confessed. "But you didn't say or do anything. Not to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about before you met me. Think about last year. Think about who you dated. When you dated them," she said softly. "Think, Jace. Why does Maia hate you? Because you broke her heart. You cheated on her. Like you did to every other girl you dated."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued. "Jace, you dated more than 1 girl at the same time. You lead them on; you told them you loved them. Then you slept with them, and dumped them. How do you think it makes them feel? Insignificant. Meaningless."

His voice grew louder. "What does this have to do with you, Clary?" he asked. "Tell me, Clary. How, and why, did you do it?"

"It was for your own good!" she blurted. "You wouldn't have understood – you had no idea what you were doing! You left a trail of broken hearts. What we-I was going to do… I was giving you a taste of your own medicine. You only thought about yourself."

"Did you really love me, Clary?" His voice was so soft she could hardly hear it. "Or was it all a hoax to get me to fall in love with you?"

"Yesterday, with your ring and all," she began, "I realised that I couldn't do this do something who loved me so much. And I loved you too. I couldn't do it."

"So you did love me," he confirmed. Hope bloomed like some pesky flowering weed, showing up when she knew it was hopeless. But maybe, just maybe… "But that doesn't make it better, Clary. You're no better than me. I never meant to hurt anyone, but you, on the other hand – you led me on purposely. What would've happened if you hadn't fallen in love with me? You would've broken my heart, and then what? How would breaking my heart solve anything?"

His anger was terrible, and she knew she deserved it. "Jace…I'm so sorry," she whispered, reaching out towards him. He recoiled, and the simple action made her heart fall. "Once I fell for you, I never meant to hurt you, Jace. I love you so much, and I…"

"And I trusted you, Clary," he said quietly. "I loved you, and this is what I get." He didn't' sound angry – more resigned. "Just go."

"Jace! Wait!" she called as he finished the journey to his room.

"Please."

Clary left.

* * *

"Anything that you did not finish today is homework, and it's due in on Thursday," the teacher informed them. "Remember to check your work." Half-hearted groans filled the room as the students headed towards the cafeteria.

Clary automatically followed the crowd, collecting her food and bagging an empty table. She contemplated the poorly prepared food, eyeing it with reluctance

"I can't believe she would do that," Alex said.

"I hate her so much," Isabelle commented. "I mean, what the hell was she thinking?" Clary looked away as they approached – they were obviously talking about her.

The group, sans Jace and Alec, stopped before Clary's table, thinking it was empty. They chatted, all occupied to notice where they were.

Clary cleared her throat, and in a synchronised movement, Isabelle, Aline and Alex looked up from their conversations, staring her down unflinchingly. Simon was staring in a somewhat bashful manner at the ground, and Maia looked frustrated.

"You know what?" Isabelle asked, still glaring at Clary. "I'm not that hungry anymore." She dumped her tray on another empty table, the rest of the group settling around her.

Clary pushed her food around again as they left, appetite gone. All around her, students looked at her with interest, whispering and nudging their friends. Already the word was out about how Jace had declared his love for the new girl and how he had dumped her two days later. But more importantly, they talked about how the position of Jace's girlfriend was empty.

Clary disagreed. Jace was constantly by surrounded by swarms of girls who were desperate for popularity, especially Roxanne and Myra. Those two were always with him – during class, during lunch – and the other 3 or 4 girls were different every time Clary saw Jace.

He had returned to being a player, and now he flaunted it like a girl with a designer handbag. The whole school knew about his tricks from before he began dating Clary, but most of the female population didn't seem to care.

"Do you mind?" a voice said scornfully. It was high and whiny, reminding Clary of mosquitoes. "We like, need a table."

Annoyed, Clary turned and glared. The offending girl was shorter than Clary – Jace would have laughed at the "achievement", Clary thought wistfully. She was surrounded by a gaggle of taller 'minions', and radiated an air of authority and superiority.

"Excuse me? Did you hear me?" the girl spat. "I said we need a table." Her eyes burned with hostility and condescension, surprising Clary.

"I'm leaving, don't worry," Clary mumbled, standing up. Her cheeks went red as she noticed everyone – including Jace – staring at her.

"God, what a loser," one of the minions murmured as Clary passed her. The other girls responded with titters and giggles.

* * *

"Jace, talk to me," she breathed, trailing her dainty fingers down his chest. "What's wrong?"

"It's none of your business," he said sharply. Roxanne noted that he didn't push her hand away.

"Of course it is!" she exclaimed, leaning closer. "You're my boyfriend, and I'm here to listen and help." She winked.

"It was nothing," he sighed.

"And?" she persisted. "Tell me!" Roxanne leaned perilously close to him, her lips millimetres from his.

Jace cleared his throat. "When Clary and I broke up," he began, "We had a huge argument. It turns out she was lying to me all along."

"Tell me more, baby," she whispered. After a few minutes of hesitation and extreme flirting, Jace relented and told her the story.

"That's awful!" Roxanne said, shocked. "I, for one, would never, ever hurt you like that."

"That's good to know," he said absently.

"Jace, you're obviously feeling sad and bitter about this," she said comfortingly. "Probably angry too, right? She hurt you. And now it's time for you to get revenge."

"Why?" he asked dully.

Roxanne smirked. "Trust me; it makes you feel so much better. And it's so simple!"

"What is it?"

"All we need to do is tell the truth," she informed him, smiling as a hint of malicious glee lit up in his eyes. "The school will do the rest."

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a haze of whispers and giggles, of texting and gossip. Now everyone was digging up every piece of information they had on Clary, and twisting it to suit their own purposes.

"…told me that she slept with Simon…"

"…stepfather's abusing her…"

"…used to be a prostitute…"

Clary ignored them as much as she could until a new wave of rumours flooded everyone's cell phones. In her English class, which she shared with Isabelle, Alex, Aline and Jace, one girl had received a not-so discreet call from a friend, and was retelling the story.

"Omigosh, you will never, ever believe what I just heard," she screeched. Fortunately for her, the teacher seemed to be late. "You know that Clary girl? Jace's ex?"

Clary noted the way Jace stiffened when he heard her name. "Of course I know about her, bitch," someone answered.

"Well, _apparently_, she had this scheme of hers to break Jace's heart," the first girl gushed. "Like, she'd noticed how Jace was _such_ a player, and she decided to do something for herself. So, she, like, bought all these new clothes and stuff, and she played hard to get, and Jace ended up falling for her!"

"No way!" another girl cried.

"So, then, he gave her his ring, and was all like, 'I love you' and stuff," the girl continued, "And then, he found out about it!"

Gasps echoed from the corner.

"And then they had this huge argument, and he dumped her, and she was soo hysterical about it," the girl giggled. "Apparently she had this huge breakdown."

Clary hadn't noticed her absent-minded doodling, and when she looked down, she was surprised to see Jace's profile. She had managed to unintentionally capture the stone quality his face took on whenever he saw her, and the picture of the boy seemed dark and unfriendly.

In some ways, it scared her.

But Jace would never, ever spread rumours, and she doubted he would tell of their breakup. She was certain of that.

A small rush of fury overtook Clary, and she crossed over to the gossipy girls. The class watched with mild interest.

"Hi there, what's your name?" Clary asked pleasantly. Behind her, Alex and Isabelle traded smirks.

"_I_ am Lucy," the girl sniffed. "And you are…?"

Clary grinned wickedly, but Lucy answered for her. "Omigosh! You're Clary!"

"That's right," Clary agreed, still smiling pleasantly. "Now, I need to ask a little question."

"Ask away!" Lucy chirped.

"Where did you hear that story?"

The happy, bubbly expression faltered. "Um, I heard it from Melanie, who heard it from Kate, who overheard Diana and Serena, who heard it from… Roxanne, I think" Lucy finished.

"Thanks," Clary said. She walked back to her seat, thinking hard. Roxanne knew. But only she, Isabelle, Alex and Aline knew. And Simon and Maia. And Jace.

_And who does Roxanne spend all her time with? _the reasonable part of her asked.

Clary went cold. _Jace,_ she answered. _She sits with Jace_.

* * *

**Just a note: I am Australian. I don't know the terms like "freshman" or "sophomore" or anything like that, which is why I've never used them. I've never been to America, and I hope I haven't used any Australian terms that don't make sense. **

**I really have to stop writing the word Alien instead of Aline.**

**I've said this before: I don't like Twilight, and I don't usually read the fanfics. I have been reading a few though, and they're really good. Twilight has a few communities called 1000+ reviews, or something similar, and those stories are really good.**

**A Cullen Wannabe writes amazing stories that have incredible plotlines. As in, they're awesome.**

**So, I hope you liked this, and I like reviews? (hint hint)**

**Risotto is so yummy. I made it a few times.**

**You're gonna have to expect slower updates and stuff, because I insist on writing chapter 20 before I post chapter 18. Sorry about that.**

**Rawr,**

**smileysgoboing**


	18. Beautiful Isolation

Chapter 18: Beautiful Isolation

**Yay! Another chapter, because I finished chapter 20! Mwahahaha! Once I finish this story, I'll edit the chapters - I noticed that I have a lot of typos. Hmmm.**

**I hope you like this chapter. It's a bit of a filler, with a bit of a cliffhanger. Next chapter is better, I swear. Hope.**

**Aussie people win, even if there is a heat wave in Sydney and storms and bushfires everywhere else. Meh. I'm in Year 9, which, in America, is a freshman, I think? **

**Does that mean you guys start high school in year 9? We start in Year 7. Anway. Read. Review. Give me a potato. Get me out of school. Eat.**

By the next day, everyone had heard about what Clary had done. None of it mentioned Isabelle, Alex or Aline, but even though they weren't publicly involved with the scheme, the girls had been bumped down on the social ladder. Alex remained school slut, Aline valedictorian, but Isabelle was more unfortunate – Roxanne had been begged to return to the cheerleading squad. While the three had earned their way to the top through their talent, Roxanne and Myra had used bullying and Jace to achieve the spot.

The blame had rested on Clary and Clary alone.

As expected, the majority of the student body scorned her, looking down at her and her actions. These were the girls and boys who were eager – sometimes almost desperate – for popularity, and always took Jace's side in everything, hoping that he would notice them and elevate them to the blessed lifestyle of popularity.

Their behaviour annoyed Clary – if Jace entered a room, it would be these girls who swooned and fluttered their eyelashes, and these boy who would sidle up to him and pretend that they were best friends, hoping that Jace wouldn't' humiliate them. Any kind of positive reaction spurred them on.

Unexpectedly, it was only a majority. Not all. The minority were made up of boys and girls who were sick of Jace and his girlfriends, sick of the school hierarchy. They were sick of the way Roxanne and other bitchy girls teased them because of their appearance or grades or whatever else they found insulting and uncool. They believed that Jace would've deserved the punishment, and looked to Clary with hope.

It was rather unnerving.

It had only been three days since Jace had dumped her. So far, he hadn't spoken to her or texted her or contacted her in any way. It felt a little strange for Clary, seeing that while they'd been dating, he'd called her every night, he texted her during classes they didn't' share, he talked to her with the classes they did have together, and in general, spent every moment together.

But now at school, Clary felt isolated, alone. She sat outside, safe in the shade of a giant tree. Even Jonathon felt embarrassed by her – he insisted that she get off a block before school. As humiliating as it was, she refused to be daunted – she would get through this school as fast as she could, because she was absolutely certain that Jocelyn would never let her switch schools.

Survival. That was her goal.

So far, she had managed to stay under the radar with her isolated lunch spot. She stayed quiet during classes, and didn't cause any trouble.

Something was bound to go wrong.

* * *

Clary slipped out of the classroom, hurrying to the cafeteria to grab her food. As she waited impatiently in the line, students filled the room, spreading and dispersing like water droplets. Jace ambled into the room, escorted by Roxanne and Myra. He looked smug and confident – the arrogant and conceited side of Jace was no longer a 'side'; instead, it was a whole. He smirked, openly eyeing pretty girls who passed by.

It irked Clary – for their dating period, she had reprimanded him for being so cocky, and she itched with the urge to slap the overconfident expression of his face. Instead, she clutched her tray in her hands, muttering thanks and hurried over to the door, hoping that she would be out before anyone spotted her.

To her horror, Roxanne and Myra had seen her and were now calling out to her over the cafeteria, attracting the attention of everyone.

"Clary!" Roxanne squealed. "Where are you going?"

"Wait for us, Clary!" Myra exclaimed, grinning in an almost menacing manner. Taking their time, the two most popular girls walked over, the crowd parting before them.

"Aw, she's so little," Roxanne cooed. "She looks so sweet."

The two exchanged glances. "That's the thing, Roxie," Myra said, her voice sickly sweet. "She may look sweet but everyone knows what a scheming bitch she is."

"Excuse me," Clary interrupted. "I have to go."

"Jace sent us," Myra said bluntly. "You have something of his."

"What?"

"You have Jace's ring," Roxanne said. "He wants it back."

"But it's mine!" Clary protested.

"Just give it," Myra growled, swiping at Clary's hand. Clary yanked her hand away, clutching it protectively.

"Hey! It's mine," Clary insisted.

"No, it's Jace's," Roxanne corrected.

"No, it _was_ Jace's," Clary said. "And he gave it to me."

"Yeah, but that was when you were, like, dating," Roxanne said in a 'duh' voice. "Now you're not."

Clary frowned, hearing the clicks that signalled that students were taking photos and in general, noticing Clary. "He gave the ring to me. You know, a few days ago? The whole announcing his love for me thing, and then he gave the ring to me? Remember?"

"So?" Myra said, rolling her eyes. "It's Jace's, and he's probably going to give it to us."

"Yeah, but he hasn't exactly, like, announced that he's loved you," Clary mimicked. "Unless you count having his tongue down your throat. Does that count?"

"Clary, just give it to us!" Roxanne hissed with frustration.

"Hang on," Clary sang, dancing out of reach. "How can you give _one_ ring to the two of you? Are you gonna cut into half? Somehow, I don't think that's gonna work."

"Give it!" Myra lunged for Clary's hand, attempting to wrestle the ring off. Reflexively, Clary slapped the girl with her other hand, stepping sideways and backing towards the door. Myra yelped in shock, stumbling backwards on her heels. She tripped, landing on her butt with a confused expression.

"You bitch!" Roxanne shrieked. Clary stifled a laugh as she watched the other girl glance back and forth between Clary and Myra – risk grabbing the ring and getting hurt? Or stay safe and help Myra?

In the not-so brief moment of confusion, Clary backed out the door, turning to sprint to the comfort and safety of her tree, leaving behind the murmurs and whispers.

Inside, the crowd shifted uneasily. Too long they had been bullied and teased by girls led by Roxanne, and to see her humiliated and hurt made them appreciate Clary.

The girls at the 'popular' table rushed over, murmuring their concern and outrage. Myra seemed more offended than hurt, rubbing her cheek gingerly. Her friends acted as if Clary had punched Myra in the gut, and began muttering at revenge.

"That little bitch," Myra hissed. "She's gonna pay."

"She will," Roxanne agreed.

* * *

"Bye, Mom!" Clary called as she hurried down the front path into Jonathon's car. He drove off immediately, ignoring her yelps as she struggled to put her seatbelt on. There was a stony expression on his face similar to Jace's – it only appeared whenever they saw her.

A block away from school, Jonathon stopped the car. "Sorry, Clare," he muttered.

"It's okay," she responded automatically. A part of her was accepting of the fact that Roxanne and Myra and Jace ruled the school, and to cross them would be social suicide – which made it okay for Jonathon to ditch her.

The other part was furious with him – he was her big brother, her protector, and now he was afraid and embarrassed to be seen with her? He should be protecting her, helping her, standing up for her. But he wasn't.

"Clary? _There_ you are," cried a voice. Calla bounded down the steps, her hair billowing everywhere.

Clary smiled. "I'm sorry," she laughed. "Jonathon was late."

"I was _so_ worried," Calla said in her crisp British accent as she hugged Clary.

"I'm sorry," Clary repeated. "C'mon, let's go."

As they walked, Clary couldn't help but marvel at her new friend. A few days had gone past in isolation – Clary had no friends, but eventually she'd met Calla, the girl from London. Calla had moved to New York about a week ago, and had started school at the Institution a few days ago. It was inevitable that Clary had met her.

Calla was a writer and a reader – she, like Clary, liked silence, and the two would sometimes spend lunchtimes drawing, writing or reading. They had a quiet sort of friendship – most girls talked and chatted, but they preferred to sit and enjoy each other's company.

Not only was her friend British – she admired the accent so much – Calla was beautiful, with her gorgeous caramel coloured hair that tumbled down to her waist and her sapphire blue eyes with hints of what looked like purple.

She also had amazing fashion sense like Isabelle, demonstrated by her pairing of a silver-blue camisole and dark blue skinny jeans that matched her eyes and hair. Fortunately, she didn't force it on Clary.

"So why _did_ you slap Myra?" Calla asked curiously. "I heard so many rumours about it – some of them were absolutely ridiculous."

Clary frowned slightly at the memory of the day before. "She tried to grab something of mine," she said finally.

"And then?" the girl prompted.

"And then she came too close, and I slapped her," Clary finished.

Disappointment appeared in Calla's blue eyes and she sulked. "That's it?"

Clary nodded, a small seed of doubt planting itself in her mind. Calla had always been unusually curious about gossip and it worried Clary.

Calla tried again. "What were they trying to grab?"

Unconsciously, Clary shifted her hand away from Calla, speeding up that tiny bit more. "It was nothing."

"No, it's not. What is it? Tell me, please," Calla wheedled. "We're friends. I trust you. Do you trust me?" she asked solemnly.

"Of course I do," Clary said. "It's just that…well, you've been…and I…"

"You don't?" Calla pouted and her eyes filled with tears. "So we're not friends?"

"Of course we are! We're friends, Calla," Clary promised.

She brightened immediately, tears disappearing. "So you'll tell me?"

"Of course," Clary soothed.

"So what was it?" Calla breathed.

"It was a ring," she answered. "Jace gave it to me while we were…together, and they tried to take it back."

"Can I see it?" The question shot out of Calla's mouth.

"Um…okay." Clary held out her hand, and Calla examined the ring as if it were a diamond, practically sighing with envy and longing.

"Let's go," Clary said quickly, speeding up.

As they entered the school grounds, Calla disappeared to her other friends – girls Clary didn't know. She felt shadows of jealousy at her friend – Calla was beautiful, could raise one eyebrow and had real friends. Clary's friendships grew from the seed of anger and revenge.

Clary brushed the shadows away, heading to her locker to grab books for her classes. There was a small crowd giggling and whispering – normal behaviour for the Institution's students – and a teacher trying to clear them away. Not normal.

She hurried forward, squeezing and pushing her way through the crowd. Her locker was dented and crudely spray painted with insults such as 'whore' and 'slut'. As Clary stared wordlessly at the damage, the whispers grew louder.

"That's her. That's the bitch."

"She's in for it now." Clary ignored the comments and spoke to the teacher, who assured her that they'd fix it soon.

Fortunately, she had the books for her first class with her, and it passed with no delay. On her way to her second class, she stopped by her locker again. The locker was still dented, but openable. The insults had been washed away.

Clary gathered her books, pausing to take in her situation. So this was their revenge? Clary wondered. It was petty, but what did she expect from them?

As she turned, something splattered on her back, side and then front. The water balloons emptied their contents on her, soaking her clothes while the rest exploded around her. Giggles reached her ears and she spun quickly in case of another attack.

All she saw was a group of girls disappearing around a corner. With a small snarl, Clary wrung out her soaked hair and clothes in the bathroom, muttering angrily about petty revenge. She arrived to the class late only to be greeted by the familiar giggles and whispers of her classmates. The teacher simply raised an eyebrow but ignored her as he continued to lecture.

The moment the bell rang Clary trudged out the room. She was so sick of it – sick of everything, sick of the school, sick of the way that every single fricking person looked down on her, sick of the way everyone judged her, sick of the whispers and malicious giggles that followed her wherever she went.

Clary wanted out.

She recognised Roxanne's loud titter and looked away, trying not to attract attention. Unfortunately, her fire-red hair was identified. The laughter subsided – Clary tried to slip away, but Myra viciously placed her hands on Clary's shoulders and _pushed_. Down she fell and all her books and notes were displayed to the world. Underneath her fury was a cool sense of relief – thank goodness she never doodled anymore in class.

Myra pulled out a water bottle and splashed it on her books, soaking them thoroughly. She knelt beside her and grabbed Clary's tiny wrist. "Don't ever try and cross us again," she hissed. "This is only the beginning, _Clare_. You never cross us. _Never_." With a cruel smirk, she shoved Clary down again and strutted off to her friends.

Clary examined the bruise that was forming on her wrist with a cold, detached interested. It would be okay, she decided, crouching to gather her books. From the stickiness, Myra had poured lemonade or juice on her belongings. They – Myra and the rest – had disappeared a while ago, and she was glad. She stood up and noticed the crowd surrounding her.

"Oh, go away," Clary said crossly – she would have used much harsher words, but she didn't want to ruin her reputation more. The crowd dispersed reluctantly, some turning to snap more photos. Clary shooed them away, silently cursing the school. She headed to her usual spot of under-the-tree where she and Calla sometimes ate together. Sometimes they sat in the library or in an empty classroom. The spot was empty.

Well, what was she expecting? Clary already had a horrible history of her friendships, and Calla would be no different. Obviously, the story of her book-soaking was already around the school and everyone already avoided her like she had the plague. Calla was just like the rest of them.

She was doomed to have no friends. She would grow up and be that creepy aunt who has no kids but has a lot of cats. She felt sorry for herself and for her future nieces or nephews. She would go to high school reunions and everyone – no, she wouldn't. She wouldn't waste a single second of her time considering going to a place that had Jace, Myra or Roxanne.

The bell rang, signalling that it was halfway through lunch. With another quiet sigh, Clary stood, wincing as she looked at her books drying in the sun. Without warning, someone slammed into her and she yelped.

"Clary!"

"Calla?" Clary said incredulously. "What are you doing-I thought you'd-what the hell?"

"I am so sorry," the girl wailed. "Miss Miller kept us in, and she wouldn't let us go until now and I'm so sorry, Clary!"

"I thought you'd…never mind," Clary said quickly.

"Thought I'd what?" Calla asked suspiciously. "Tell me, Clary."

She sighed in defeat – Calla's "logic" and puppy dog pouts always won her over in the end. "Myra pushed me and poured some lemonade on my books." Clary waved at her books, lying sadly on the grass.

"Oh, you poor thing," Calla soothed, sitting down on the grass. "It's not that bad, I suppose."

"But it's probably going to get a lot worse," Clary sighed.

* * *

"Calla, here," Serena commanded, point to the seat next to her. Calla obeyed, taking the spot.

"Anything else?"

"I've given you all my knowledge on them," the girl said happily. "Good to know you know."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Calla sighed.

"You'd continue sitting with that loser," Serena said, her happy demeanour disappearing. "You'd be bullied, our chances ruined, and everything you and I know would go to waste."

"Rena, all that stuff you know?" Calla asked. "It's useless. You can't use it against anyone."

"So why did you want to know it then?" Serena retorted.

Calla smiled coldly, a malicious glint in her eyes. "I said _you _can't use it."

* * *

**Did anyone get the chapter name? Beautiful Isolation? Calla means beautiful. And the isolation...yeah.**

**Calla is a sneaky person. Maybe not that sneaky. You'll see.**

**Has anyone ever made risotto? I read Matched, and it's cute and weird but awesome. I love Inception. Hi.**

**School is going ok. **


	19. Betrayal

Chapter 19: Betrayal

**Okay! Once again, I am super-duper sorry that this update was so late - I thought I had already posted it... Anyway, school is crap. This chapter may be a little short, but I promise that the next two will definitely be longer. Two more chapters! Yay!**

Calla sighed happily, glancing at her outfit. She adored dressing up, adored fashion, adored finding and matching clothes that would suit her. Today had been a challenge – she'd needed an outfit that had, as usual, made her look absolutely stunning (not that she wasn't) but in a more…subtle way.

It made her look sweet and innocent, this dress. It was white (for innocence) and simple, to give everyone the impression that she was nothing but sweet and innocent. Around the waist there was a black ribbon that formed a bow at the back – an even subtler reminder that she wasn't as sweet and innocent as she seemed. It was perfect.

She strolled out the door where Clary was waiting for her and they smiled in greeting. Inwardly, though, Calla smirked – manipulating Clary was just too easy. The girl was weak, needy and Calla had been there for her. And now, it was obvious Clary depended on her for support.

Too easy.

At the class after break, Clary complained about how her locker had been vandalised (again), but this time her belongings had been stolen, the books soaked (again) and how the thugs had rigged it to explode paint in her face when she opened it. Calla's opinion of her went lower – to her, Clary was weak. Easy to manipulate. Fragile. She could barely protect herself from anything, let alone Calla, who had ruined more lives than she could count.

Naturally, her victim was miserable throughout class and Calla, in a rather lazy attempt, tried to cheer her up. The bell rang, and the class left.

The hallway was filled with people who hated Clary – Jace, Roxanne, Myra, Aline, Alex and Isabelle. Calla didn't know why the last three hated Clary – Calla suspected that they too had been in on Clary's plan. Maybe they ditched her after Jace had found out. Maybe it was before. For now, the matter was insignificant.

The snooping would have to come later. It was time to execute the plan.

* * *

Clary picked absently at the stiff, blue strand of hair. She felt paranoid and scared, weary of the faces around her. Her heart sped up as she noticed Jace and Myra talking together. She flinched when she noticed the cheerleaders, led by Roxanne and Isabelle. Clary felt like she could see everything – all the tiny details. She saw Aline flirting with Jonathon, Simon glancing frequently at Isabelle, Maia frowning a little at Simon.

Calla was a solid, reassuring presence of friendship and they linked arms. She wondered if Simon had forgiven her – he seemed gentler and less able to hold a grudge than…everyone else. Unfortunately he was surrounded by the grudge holders and Clary was too afraid and ashamed to approach them.

Sadly, Isabelle chose this moment to notice Clary and strode over, smirking with such cockiness it reminded Clary of Jace, who happened to be watching Isabelle and Clary. The taller girl grasped Clary's wrist, leading her over to the locker. The students murmured with curiosity, a few already whipping out phones.

The sudden loathing for this school came back in full force, shocking Clary with the amount of hate she had accumulated over the course of a few days. Clary glared ferociously at Isabelle, yanking her wrist away.

Isabelle glared back and moved forward, arms outstretched as if to push Clary over. Clary stepped forward.

"Don't touch me," she hissed. "I saved your skanky butts."

"Our butts wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't backed out," Isabelle snapped.

"You should be grateful to me," Clary snarled. "Everyone thinks _I_ came up with the idea. That _I _came up with the plan to break Jace's heart."

"But you agreed to it! You wanted to do it! You're the one who pointed it out to us in the first place!" Isabelle sneered.

"It was your decision to get revenge!" Clary whispered angrily. "Isabelle Lightwood, you _owe _me. I could tell everyone about how you three came up with the idea, how you were so boy-crazed over Jace that you dragged the new girl into it and blamed her."

"And who's going to believe _you_?" Isabelle asked, eyes burning with an icy fury. A moment of silence, then Clary stepped to the side and continued walking.

Suddenly, hands placed themselves on her shoulder from the back and pushed her to the floor. Clary put her hands out to break her fall, books scattering wildly in the process. Burning with anger and fed-up-ness, she turned and saw Isabelle watching her, a strange expression on her face. Behind her, Roxanne grinned with triumph.

Calla had blended in with the crowd and would no doubt interrogate her later.

Swearing softly, she picked her books up and Calla handed her the sheets of paper that had escaped from the books. The crowd parted before them, providing a path to the next class.

"Hey, Calla, where are you?" Clary asked, tapping her cell phone impatiently.

"_Sorry, Clary, I had to stay in. I'll be out soon. Meet you at the tree?"_

"Yeah, sure," Clary said, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder to examine her hands. "Holy crap."

"_Clary?"_ Calla asked. _"What's wrong?"_

"Crap. Crap. Crap," Clary responded. "I-It's gone. I lost it. I'm an idiot. Holy crap."

"_Clary, talk to me_,_"_ Calla said calmly. _"What did you lose?"_

"Jace's ring! I lost his ring!" Clary wailed.

"_Clary, you're hysterical,"_ Calla said briskly. _"Calm down. Maybe it slipped off somewhere – you _are_ always fiddling with it. I'll meet you under the tree and then we can look, 'kay?"_

"Sure," Clary said miserably.

Under the tree, they ate lunch and searched all they could, but it was nowhere to be seen. They went to lost and found – nothing. They came to the conclusion that someone must've seen it on the ground and taken it.

Calla hugged Clary before lunch ended. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? And I'll ask around. Don't worry."

"I'm worrying."

"We will find it."

"Will we?" Clary repeated.

"Yes," Calla said firmly.

* * *

_The next day at lunch…_

Clary sat outside the library by herself, waiting impatiently for Calla. Clary was feeling the teensiest bit of guilt as well as the overreacting worry about Calla – somehow (she suspected her fellow students of using their uncanny ability of rather sharp hearing) word had gotten out about the plan. Rather, about Aline, Isabelle and Alex's involvement with her. Her bluff to Isabelle was wrong – everyone still believed that Clary was the mastermind.

Calla _had_ texted Clary with the excuse of being in one of her many club meetings, but was unusually late. A hint of franticness entered her worry and she shivered, wondering where her only friend was.

Inspiration struck. _Maybe_, Clary reasoned,_ she's getting her food now._ Clary hadn't collected her lunch yet, her worry making her forget. She was getting kind of hungry.

Entering cautiously, she glanced around the room, eyes resting on Jace's table to make sure no one was watching her. There was a new girl sitting with them too, openly flirting with Jace. Clary stifled a growl and grabbed her tray of food, her heart protesting against the girl's advances.

She pushed the door aside, breathing in as the wind rushed in. Instinct – or heartbreak – told her to look back and she did, studying the girl at Jace's table. Confusion trickled in as she recognised the familiar hair, the sharp cheekbones, the striking blue-purple eyes.

Calla.

Clary's tray dropped, the food spilling on the ground. Eyes stared in confusion as hatred coursed through Clary, surprising her. That…_bitch_, her supposed friend who was supposed to be in a Drama club meeting but here she was, sitting and laughing with Jace and his…friends. Clary suppressed the desire to charge at the girl, to chuck her at the ground and bash her head on the ground until she died.

Calm Clary was using the non-existent skill of raising her eyebrow at the violent thoughts. Crazy jealous bitch Clary growled as she watched Calla bat her long eyelashes at Jace, snuggling closer to him. Roxanne was at cheerleading practice and Myra was watching the couple with a hatred that rivalled Clary's.

Clary took an involuntary step towards them as Calla reached up and kissed Jace, her small hands clenching into fists that would beat the girl up until she backed off Jace.

"Are you constipated, or what?" The sneering voice came from beside her, a girl giggling with her friends as she looked dismissively at Clary. She ignored her, studying the small glint on Calla's hand.

It was a ring.

Jace's ring.

A fiery rage, bright as her hair, burned through her veins. She loathed the Institution. She hated Jace, but she loved him. She hated Calla, Roxanne and Myra. Most of all, she hated everyone else. Everything was always about who did what, or who did who, or who dumped who. Everyone was constantly on their cell phones, chatting, whispering and gossiping like no tomorrow, all so _incredibly_ desperate to be on the top.

Clarissa Fray left.

* * *

**Clary is a little OOC, with the violent tendencies and all, but...eh. I hope you liked it - please review! I love having my inbox spammed with review alerts. It's awesome. School is my sad excuse for not posting and I am writing chapter 21. It's a little confusing, but it is pretty long and its the epilogue. Yay again!**

**Anyway, for those of you who read Skuldugerry Pleasant (if you haven't, I recommend it.), I'm reading a multi-chap fanfic which is a little dark and angsty, called "Valkyrie's Tears". I think it's pretty good and but very, very sad. **

**Speaking of books, I kinda wanna read _Angel_, for Maximum Ride. I know people have said that it's bad and stuff, but I just want to see. Maybe it'll ruin my entire perspective on the series, like the _Twilight _movie did (it sucked) and maybe it won't. Sometimes when I press _Ctrl_ and _I_, to go _italics_ and back, it turns to Chinese. It's weird.**

**I'm a little disappointed with the lack of MI fanfics. Anyone have any good fanfics/books to recommend?**

**Reviews are loved and hugged and stored in my inbox to keep forever, and to cheer me up when I feel bad. **

**smileysgoboing**


	20. Weary

Chapter 20: Weary

**YAY! IT'S A DOUBLE CHAPTER-NESS! This is the second last chapter... Anyway, thank you to everyone who ever reviewed, added this story to their favourites/alert or me to their favourites/alert. I love you all, even though I don't know you. **

**I have a swimming carnival tomorrow. I'm going to read and bludge and not do anything. Maybe sneak over to my friend's house area. Anyway. Enjoy. **

"Clary!" Jocelyn smiled warmly at her. "How was your day?"

As far as Clary knew, Jocelyn had no idea whatsoever of what she'd done and what was being done to her. She opened her mouth to give the customary answer of the nonchalant "good" but other words tumbled out first.

"Absolutely miserable and pathetic." Jocelyn looked at her confusion and surprise but Clary looked down.

"Is everything alright?" Jocelyn asked uncertainly. "I haven't seen any of your friends lately."

Clary choked back a laugh. "Mom, I don't _have_ any friends."

"Honey, what do you mean?" Worried, Clary's mom escorted her to a chair, pushing a cup of tea into her hands. "What happened?"

The tale poured out, unburdening her shoulders and heart and mind. Naturally some tears leaked out, especially when Clary saw an expression of horror on Jocelyn's kind and understanding face.

"Clary–"

"Forget it," Clary muttered harshly, standing up and brushing her mother aside.

"Clary!" Jocelyn said sharply. "Sit back down." Her voice was commanding, one of a disappointed and angry mother.

Clary gave her a "what for" glare and sat obediently. "Yes?"

"I hope you know that what you did, and what you were planning to do was wrong," Jocelyn said sternly. "Toying with people's emotions like that..." she shook her head sadly. "I raised you better than that."

"I know it was wrong," Clary snapped. "And I'm being punished already, so can I go?"

"You and Jace obviously need to talk," Jocelyn declared. "I know you're sorry, and I know that you lo– really like Jace and that he really likes you."

"Mom, I've tried," Clary retorted. "He won't listen, and he's worse than before. And no one cares!"

"Clary," Jocelyn began. "This isn't living. It's surviving, and you can't keep doing this."

Clary gave up and sat down, tears streaming down her face again. "I want to go home, Mom," she whispered. "This? This life here, with you and Luke and Jonathon, it's nice. But...school isn't working and it never will.

"Send me to boarding school."

Jocelyn scowled. "I will not," she said. "You're only 17. We're a family and we stick together."

"Together?" Clary laughed humourlessly. "Jonathon is ashamed that I'm his sister. He can't even bear to be seen with me."

Jocelyn flinched. "Your brother is a different matter," she said firmly. "He takes after his father."

"Send me back," Clary repeated. "It'll be better. Send me to boarding school."

"Absolutely no–"

"I've already looked up potential ones," Clary interrupted. "There's one, Alicante Academy. It's only a few hours drive away. We'll still be close."

"No!" Jocelyn snapped. "You are not leaving us!"

"Mom, you have no idea what I'm feeling right now!" Clary shouted, angered by her mother's stubborn refusal. "I'm depressed and on the verge of suicide, because people bully me, they gossip _so much_ about me and–"

The door burst open, revealing Jonathon and Aline in a passionate kiss as they stumbled through the doorway. Clary dearly wanted to raise her eyebrow but cleared her throat instead.

The two broke apart and stared at the mother and daughter. "Oh, my gosh!" Aline exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!"

"What are you doing here?"Clary blurted incredulously. The Asian girl flushed a faint red, looking at Jonathon nervously. "We were, um...I was going to, um...help him with his work...?"

"Mmm hmm," Jocelyn said. "I think I'm going to go the kitchen." She left, leaving the three teenagers in awkward silence.

Clary stood up again, avoiding eye contact but Aline stopped her. "Clary, wait," she said, looking pointedly at Jonathon. He cleared his throat awkwardly and followed Jocelyn to the kitchen.

"Clary, I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "About what I've said and done to you and I'm sorry about forcing you to hurt Jace."

"It doesn't matter now," Clary said wearily. Aline's face brightened. "I'm moving away."

"No, you're not!" Jocelyn called.

"_Anyway_," Clary continued. "The damage is done. I accept your apology, but it doesn't matter now."

"Clary, you have to stay," Aline pleaded. "Jace... Jace is turning into a monster, thanks to Calla and them. He was bad before, but he's worse now."

"What do you want me to do?" Clary snapped. "It's all my fault. I was friends with Calla; I gave her the opportunity to become popular."

"Clary, when you dated Jace he was the sweetest, caring and kindest guy I knew," Aline explained. "It was all because of you; Jace loves you and I bet he's only this mean because he's hurt."

"My fault again," Clary retorted. "And it's loved – Jace loved me. It's obvious he's hurt, but he's dealing with it well, what with all the slutty girls around him, don't you think?"

"He's struggling, Clary – I know Jace."

"What am I going to do? Turn back the clock? Beg for forgiveness?" Clary asked harshly.

"Talk to him," Aline said firmly.

"Yeah, right."

* * *

Multi coloured spotlights were swirling, people were dancing and the loud party music blasted everywhere, causing everyone to either scream with delight or cover their ears. Clary was an ear-coverer and she wove her way through the drunk, teenaged crowd, attempting to find Aline. Unfortunately, Clary spotted her making out with Jonathon in a dark corner and she winced, shuddering at the fact that he was her _brother_. She changed course, heading instead to a table with drinks.

As she helped herself to a most likely spiked soft drink of some sort, Clary wondered if everyone else she knew was here – people like Simon and Maia, Alex and Isabelle. She couldn't picture Simon at a party like this but looked around for him anyway – she owed him an apology too. Sipping the fizzy drink, she searched for the familiar flop of brown hair and strangely enough, spotted it attached to a boy who was kissing a familiar black-haired girl.

"_Isabelle?_" she blurted incredulously. "And _Simon?_" Feeling a little ashamed at herself again, she looked away. The music was loud enough that no one else heard and she distracted herself by imagining a painting or a photo of the room – dark and blurry, as if you were spinningly dizzy, with splashes of pink and purple and yellow and green and blue. Maybe photography would be as fun as paint–

"Hey!" Clary looked and saw Aline shouting over the loud dance music. "The stage is up there!"

Suddenly frightened, Clary shouted back, "I can't do it!"

"Yes, you can!" Aline mouthed.

"No, I can't!" Annoyed, Aline grabbed the tiny girl by the wrist and dragged and shoved her to the stage.

"You suck!" Clary yelled as she stumbled to the top, almost knocking into the DJ. The loud squeals made everyone yell and moan, turning all attention to Clary.

"Um, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Clary," she began. Boos began and the occasional drunk wolf-whistle.

"Hey! You weren't invited! What do you think you're doing here, bitch?" someone called.

Clary glared, her annoyance giving her courage. "I-I'm here to apologise."

"Why don't you just move your tiny butt away from our school?" a different voice yelled. Clary scanned the crowd for the offending person and saw Roxanne, incredibly drunk with her makeup smeared and her top half falling off.

Clary ignored her. "Jace, I just wanted to apologise. First of all, _you_ know what you did wrong. I was trying to correct your mistakes by punishing you and it wasn't my job to do that," she said. "It wasn't our job."

"So they were involved!" Roxanne shrieked. "I knew it!"

"Anyway," Clary continued. "I want to say...I'm sorry. I didn't fully understand my actions until now and I'm sorry, for hurting you, for lying to you and for everything I did."

Her last words rang out in the silence and Clary had an irrational fear that Jace would wonder out of the bathroom, wondering what was happening because he hadn't heard and she would need to say it again and–

"You should be." Murmurs grew as Jace climbed onto the stage. "How can I trust you again? How do I know...you won't hurt me again?" he asked quietly.

"Because...because I love you, Jace," she confessed. "I stopped the plan the night before you overheard, because I realised I loved you, and I couldn't hurt you. And even now, what with Roxanne and Myra and Calla, and everything they've done to me...I still love you. I always will."

He looked at her again, using the familiar soul-searching gaze. "I..."

"Jace, I don't need you to say that you love me back," she said hurriedly. "All I want is your forgiveness. Then I can move away to boarding school."

"Move away," a voice said. Roxanne. She stomped up – almost stumbling over the top step. Clary glared at her. "You don't' belong here. You never have. You never will."

More murmurs from the crowd, most of them agreeing with Roxanne. "Yeah, she's right."

"Go away."

"She doesn't belong."

Clary stared at the floor. "Jace?" she asked softly.

"I don't know, Clary," he said honestly.

"Well, I do!" Roxanne snarled. "Go away, Clary. Jace is _mine_. He's my boyfriend. Go. Away!" She pushed Clary, making her stumble.

"Hell yeah!" Myra shrieked – and threw her soft drink. Maybe she aimed at Clary's head, but it ended up on her casual shirt and jeans, staining them with pink. Clary swallowed.

More people began to agree with Roxanne, the murmurs growing louder. Another person chucked their drink; someone else their slushie. Clary half-heartedly tried to avoid them but resorted to using her arms to shield her face.

"Hey!" Aline snapped. "Leave her alone!" Furious, she stormed to the stage and joined Clary and the murmurs grew to whispers; the throwing ceased.

"She didn't do anything to you!" Aline continued. "In fact, she did you a favour! Before she came, Jace was a douche. How many girls here had their hearts broken by Jace being a player, huh?" She glanced apologetically at Jace. A few girls raised their hands.

"Exactly!" Aline shouted. "When Clary came and they started dating, he was so much nicer! Did he cheat on her? Did he sleep with anyone else? No! He didn't hurt anyone! Jace was happiest with Clary. She's our last hope. And now he's even worse than before, and she's going to move away, thanks to you morons!"

"Aline is right!" a strong voice declared. To Clary's surprise, Alex joined them, frowning fiercely at Calla. "This girl here is sweet and kind and caring and it _wasn't her idea_. It was..." Alex swallowed nervously. "It was our idea."

"We made her do it. She told us the truth about Jace and we convinced her to help us get revenge on Jace," Isabelle said softly. Slowly, quietly, she stepped onto the stage, joining the three girls. "But can anyone blame us? Everyone knew that Jace was hurting every girl he slept with, cheated on or dated. We wanted to make him stop."

The whispers seemed to agreed, a ripple of nods and "She's right" spreading through the crowd.

"And how would breaking his heart help?" Roxanne snapped. She motioned for Calla and Myra to join her and they obeyed, tripping onto the getting-crowded stage. "Everyone knows now and no one seems to care. No one would care if Clary moved away."

"Look at you," Clary said in amazement to Calla. "You're so desperate to get me to move, just so you can be popular. Just so you can sleep with Jace and be his girlfriend. You manipulated me, you stole Jace's ring. Who says you aren't going to do the same thing as us?"

Calla scowled but didn't answer.

"I say she won't, because we care about Jace."Roxanne smiled triumphantly. "You think you love him but you don't. Eventually, he'll come back to me and you'll be sorry. Moving away would just be easier for you, _Fray_. You see those girls behind you? They're nothing. No one wants you to stay."

Clary tensed at the use of Jace's nickname for her.

"I want her to stay." The quiet voice was heard in the silence and Simon appeared on the stage and squeezed Isabelle's hand. He nodded at Clary and she understood, smiling in return.

"I want her to stay too," Maia added, following Simon. She glared at Calla, Myra and Roxanne. "Don't forget, girls, I could beat you up."

"And you'll be suspended," Myra snapped, swaying on her feet. "Listen, Clary, you don't deserve Jace. After what you've done, you don't deserve anyone. Not your family, not your friends and definitely not any boy you will ever meet or date."

"Jace belongs to me," Roxanne said possessively. "With me, he's happy. I help him with his heart. I am the glue that sticks it back together after you pounded it with a hammer. Did you see how heartbroken he was after he found out? Do you see how happy he is with _me _now that you're going to leave? He _needs_ me. Everyone else wants me. Nobody, Clary, _nobody_ wants you."

Stunned and hurt by the other girl's petty words, Clary stayed silent. Her friends didn't.

"Clary is our friend," Alex said firmly, standing to put her hand on her shoulder.

"She's better than you," Maia added.

"She deserves better than you and she could get it easily," Aline put in.

"No one likes a slut," Simon said.

"If anyone deserves Jace, it's her," Isabelle admitted. The crowd watched with anticipation, as if watching some soap opera. Clary snickered silently at the thought of one of them taking out a bucket of popcorn as if to watch a movie.

"It's not her choice," Roxanne sneered. "And who are you? You're nobodies. You're losers. And guess what?" She smiled proudly. "If Clary stays, she'll be worse than that."

The threat was loud and clear.

"No, she won't." Gasps echoed throughout the audience as Jace spoke.

* * *

**Kinda cliffhanger? Just read the next chapter! Yay!**


	21. Perfect Epilogue

Chapter 21: Epilogue

**Gasp! Last chapter! Ever! **

Muffled voices came from Simon's room, clearly exasperated. He couldn't exactly hear what they were saying but was curious – who had Simon invited over? Curiosity won against listening to his iPod and he padded down the well-decorated corridor, listening to what seemed like a female voice. Jace was amused at the thought of Simon and a girlfriend. As he came closer, he cringed as he recognised Maia's loud voice.

Simon and Maia. Not surprising – the two had been friends since middle school. But he heard a softer, passionate, voice argue back and realised it was Clary's. At first he was confused but remembered the first time he had seen those amazing green eyes of hers – in the cafeteria with Simon.

Curiosity beckoned and he approached again, listening as the voices grew softer. The door was closed and he leaned on the wall opposite, confused as to what was happening. Their words were muffled by the door.

"…will achieve, Clary?" Simon asked.

"Clary, no matter how much Jace annoys me, or I poke him, or call him names," Maia began, "What you're doing is wrong, and cruel. I mean, Jace is completely in love with you. With you, Clary, and you're just gonna go break his heart for something he's never done, and will never do, to you."

Jace nearly fell over – which was definitely saying something. Clary was going to break up with him? Even though they'd only been together for a few weeks, they'd been the happiest weeks of his life. He adored her, loved her, loved everything about her – her stubbornness, her captivating green eyes, her fiery red hair, the way she blushed like her hair – Jace loved it all.

He had thought she loved him back – until now. He knew (from experience) that Maia was honest. Brutally so. She never lied, unless she really had to. And he knew that she wasn't lying now.

Clary sighed from inside the room. "Forget it." Jace quickly righted himself and made himself a mask as the door swung open revealing an exhausted-looking Clary.

The sight of her, beautiful, gorgeous, short, amazing felt like his heart was breaking. All this time, he thought he'd found his soul-mate, the girl he never wanted to leave. She was perfect for him.

But it had all been an act, a façade to lead him on – was the real Clary really an artist? Was the real Clary really that shy?

Did the real Clary love him?

He wouldn't, couldn't – tried not to – believe it, but he knew that this wasn't Clary. This was Barbie-doll Clary, programmed to be his perfect other half.

Jace kept his face still, his eyes blank and watched for her reaction: a small gasp, a look of horror in her eyes – his fears were confirmed. He could hardly restrain his anger and hurt, let alone open his mouth – so he headed back to his room, hoping that it was all a dream.

"Jace," Clary called. "I can explain." He ignored her, still hoping. "Just wait, please–"

He increased pace, but so did she. "I heard shouting from Simon's room," he explained. She hesitated, falling behind a little as guilt appeared on her frightened face.

The confirmation came again with that small pleading look and he cracked, opening his mouth to speak. _Control_, he told himself. "So, you were planning to break my heart?" he said casually. "Was it something I said? Something I did? Something I never did?" He knew he was quoting Maia – he knew he was hurting Clary and he was happy for it.

She recoiled, hurt by his barely concealed anger. "Yes, I-I planned to break your heart," she said in a small voice. "But you didn't say or do anything. Not to me."

Confused, Jace asked, "What do you mean?"

She hesitated before the words rushed out. "Think about before you met me. Think about last year. Think about who you dated. _When_ you dated them," she pleaded. "Think, Jace. Why does Maia hate you? Because you broke her heart. You cheated on her. Like you did to every other girl you dated."

Again, the confusion. He thought about Isabelle, Maia, Serena, the quiet girl from his maths class, Alex, Myra, Roxanne, Lydia, Bea, Ariana – all the girls he'd ever slept with or dated. Hints of understanding dawned but she interrupted them.

"Jace, you dated more than 1 girl at same time," she said and Jace could sense her annoyance and frustration at that. "You lead them on; you told them you loved them. Then you slept with them, and dumped them. How do you think it makes them feel? Insignificant. Meaningless."

Jace understood. But he didn't care. "What does this have to do with you, Clary? Tell me, Clary," he said loudly. "How, and why, did you do it?"

She looked close to tears as she answered. "It was for your own good! You wouldn't have understood – you had no idea what you were doing!" she cried. Despite her anguished expression, her voice remained clear. "You left a trail of broken hearts. What we-I was going to do…I was giving you a taste of your own medicine. You only thought about yourself."

_Not until I met you!_ Jace wanted to scream at her. _I met you and you were _all_ I thought about. Every single day! _Instead, he soothed and calmed his anger, taming his voice to a whisper, asking the question he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer to.

"Did you really love me, Clary? Or was it all a hoax to get me to fall in love with you?"

"Yesterday, with your ring and all," she said – Jace hissed in frustration at her answer. Pathetic. She was stalling. _YES OR NO?_ "I realised I couldn't do this to someone who loved me so much. And I loved you too. I couldn't do it."

"So you did love me," he repeated, mildly satisfied with this. Other pressing matters emerged from where he'd ignored them. "But that doesn't make it better, Clary." The amount of hope he saw in her eyes made him hesitate as he spoke, but they died as she heard his words. "You're no better than me. I never meant to hurt anyone," he argued, "but you, on the other hand – you led me on purposely. What would've happened if you hadn't fallen in love with me? You would've broken my heart, and then what? How would breaking my heart solve anything?" he demanded.

A few tears spilled over but she didn't' seem to notice them. "Jace," she begged. "I'm so sorry." Once, he had loved her. But now, as she lifted her arm towards him he felt disgust and anger, hatred and hurt and he withdrew. "Once I fell for you," she continued, "I never meant to hurt you, Jace. I love you so much, and I…" She swallowed, wiping her tears away.

"And I trusted you, Clary," he said harshly. "I loved you and this is what I get." Just as quickly as it came, all his hatred and anger disappeared, leaving behind the hurt and betrayal. "Just go." He pushed past her, ignoring the sight of her agony and tears.

"Jace! Wait!"

He said one word. "Please."

She made no noise, no sound, but he knew, by the sudden ache in his chest, that she was gone.

* * *

The next day, Jace constructed an elaborate façade of sarcasm– someone who didn't care what Clary did, someone who didn't care that they were broken up, someone who merely wanted the company of all the girls in the school. This was the douche-bag side of Jace – the player, the uncaringly harsh, empty boy who lived in a world where everything and everyone revolved around him.

All it had taken was one little wink. The effect was immediate – the girl winked back and immediately began whispering, and the whispering spread like ripples in a pond. Wave after wave it spread – alerting girls that Clary was no longer a threat, that _the_ Jace Wayland was single once again.

They fawned over him, flirting and wooing at as best as they could. Jace happily accepted the attentions of each and everyone one of them, trying to ignore the fact that none of them had flaming-red hair and scorching green eyes.

He suspected that she hadn't been alone in her scheming – the innocent, slightly naïve Clary he kne – he had _known_, he corrected himself, would have never been so devious. She probably would've never figured his "techniques" out unless someone explained it to her.

The prime suspect was Maia, of course, but Jace ignored it. By the end of the day, a miniature hierarchy had been established – Roxanne and Myra at the top and everyone else at the bottom. He enjoyed the company of the two girls most.

It was in the company of flirtatious Roxanne that he told his sad, woeful tale of betrayal – she had reacted with shock and horror while probably scheming as much as Clary. Jace didn't care – he was angry and hurt and he wanted revenge.

Roxanne had persuaded him to leak the story and by the next day, it had become common knowledge, with many variations. He had watched as his old friends rejected her – Simon and Maia, he knew why. He never knew that they cared about him that much.

Alec had accompanied him back to his player ways, acting like a seventh wheel or similar. Jace knew that his best friend and brother would have probably preferred to sit with his sister.

Again, he didn't care.

Clary had made a huge effect on the school, making the students gossip more than ever. Since he had returned to being the golden boy, Isabelle and Alex had been shoved down the social ladder a fraction, with Roxanne and Myra squeezing in between them and Jace.

On one particularly angsty day, Jace found himself reaching for a non-existent ring on his finger. This naturally made him feel more pissed at Clary and himself - how could he have been so _stupid_, so _gullible_ to believe one red-headed midget – to believe her so well that he had given away his most valuable possession, the only thing that was left of his mother, to a scheming bitch.

Naturally, Roxanne took advantage of his furious state and he sent her and Myra off on what he knew now was a useless mission. All he had sent them off to do was retrieve one, simple, silver ring on the hand of a tiny newbie and they had come back with tears and a slapped face.

Jace knew that Roxanne and Myra were taking revenge in a rather petty way – water balloons, graffiti – but he just didn't care. Clary was nothing to him. _Nothing_.

Then along had come beautiful-sexy-gorgeous new girl Calla Thompson, the girl whose looks rivalled his own. She had been successful in taking – Jace refused to see it as stealing – the ring back from Clary and in return he had elevated her to around the same level as Roxanne and Myra – maybe even higher.

She was striking, hot – everything a guy could ask for. They both knew it was nothing to do with love; instead, it was more of a you're-hot-I'm-hot-let's-hook-up kinda thing.

It was unfortunately around this time with Calla that he realised that his anger had simmered down to a sense of betrayal, with plenty of hurt and hints of anger. And he had realised this when he had first kissed Calla at lunch and he had heard the loud clatter of a dropped lunch tray and he had seen the oh-so familiar red hair.

Jace tried to convince himself that he was still angry at her, that he still hated her, that she meant nothing to him but even his accomplished lying skills couldn't deceive him this time. Distractions could – distracting himself by kissing Calla was definitely working. The majority of his mind was focused on their intense make out session, while the rest were wondering about Clary.

But it was only a minority, and that was what mattered to Jace. He could ignore them – at least until Clary apologised to him in front of everyone he knew. Then Roxanne had come up and shouted and insulted her, and Isabelle, Alex and Aline had admitted that they had been part of the plan (Jace had been a little hurt and annoyed at that. Isabelle? Practically his own sister!) but they had defended Clary, and Simon and Maia had come up, and Simon had squeezed Isabelle's hand (which was kinda gross, seeing as Simon was his brother and Isabelle was practically his sister).

But then Jace had realised something when Clary said something about "moving away" – he didn't want her to. She still loved him, despite all the disastrous things that had happened to her – and he still definitely had feelings for her. That was all he had figured out, until Roxanne spat out more insults.

"It's not her choice," Roxanne said scornfully. "And who are you?" You're nobodies. You're losers. And guess what?" She smirked. "If Clary stays, she'll be worse than that."

Jace bristled internally at the insults to his friends, but more to Clary. He had feelings for Clary. He didn't want her to be a loser, he just wanted things to go back to the way they were. When they shared playful and witty banter, or when they were dating. Those were the good times.

The last few weeks had been fun, but unfulfilling – his only purpose had been to sleep with girls. As fun as that was, he grew sick of it. Roxanne and Myra were great, sure, but they just weren't Clary. Jace didn't want them, or Calla, or anyone else, but Clary.

She was the one for him.

"No, she won't," Jace spoke up. Gasps peppered the audience.

"Jace!" Roxanne said. "_What_ are you talking about?"

"I want Clary to stay," he said calmly, "but I don't want you to bully her."

Myra gasped. "We don't bully her," she shrieked. "It's justice. She deserves it, after what she did to you, Jace."

"And I deserved what she would've done to me," Jace rebuked her. "I know I was a douche-bag, and have been for a while, but you made me. You helped me along."

"We just wanted the _real_ Jace back," Roxanne whined.

"Just get out," Jace said coldly, disgust clear on his face. Gasping in hurt and indignation, the two girls stormed out, their furious voices trailing behind them.

"Jace…?" Clary breathed, staring at him with hopeful eyes.

The words rushed out of him. "Clary, I'm sorry," he whispered, walking over and hugging her tight. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for what I put you through. I'm sorry for not listening to you. I'm sorry that I was that bad that you had to teach me a lesson."

He crushed her once again and was pleased to feel her skinny arms wrap around him. "But if I hadn't, I never would've met you. I love you, Clary," he murmured, tilting her chin up so that they could kiss once more.

* * *

The next day, things were perfect. At least they were to Jace. Clary was with him; she still loved him and he loved her, Roxanne and Myra were _gone – _everything was perfect. He often looked at Clary, admiring her perfectness as if reassuring himself that she was still there.

The school grumbled but was in general happier, thanks to Jace being his true, sweet self now that Clary was back. True, things were the tiniest bit awkward between them – Jace still hadn't _quite_ gotten over her betrayal, but he was willing to forgive and forget in time.

He had confronted Aline, Isabelle and Alex in private and they had confessed. Both sides had apologised and Jace had been mildly surprised when Isabelle went straight to Simon's side. The three had apologised to Clary, who apologised back. She'd also apologised to Simon and Maia, who had forgiven her as well.

And so, after about 3 months of feuding, it was over. Everything was as it should've been. Clary and Jace together? Check.

Simon and Isabelle? Looks like it.

Aline and Jonathon? Definitely.

Jonathon had also apologised to Clary but he was not as forgiven – Jocelyn had grounded him for another month, but it was ok for him since Aline came round frequently.

"Thanks, Jonathon!" Clary beamed at her big brother as he scowled half-heartedly at her. She hopped out of the car, running towards Jace with her arms outstretched. They embraced, both feeling the rightness of being together.

"I missed you," she whispered against his chest. She squeezed her arms tighter around him, giggling as he pried her off.

"I missed you too, Clary," he said solemnly, picking her up and kissing her like no tomorrow.

"Clary?" A voice interrupted their reunion. Clary stiffened and whirled.

She struggled to speak. "Calla?"

The beautiful girl was dressed with a white dress, her hair out and tangled as she looked pleadingly at the couple. "Clary," she begged. "I'm so sorry! Roxanne a-and Myra – they made me do it! I swear! I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt you!"

Clary narrowed her eyes. "And why should I trust you?"

"I'm your friend!" Calla cried. "I helped you, remember? I was there for you! I _am _there for you! I'm your friend!" Seeing Jace and Clary's dubious expressions, she tried another tactic. "They made me steal the ring! They blackmailed me! They forced me too!" Somewhere along her mini speech, she started crying.

Clary looked at her closely, looking past her beautiful exterior. "Nope," she announced. "I don't believe you. You're a lying, backstabbing bitch."

Calla's jaw dropped as she looked at them with amazement, her tears dried up. "What? B-but I thought we were friends! I thought you trusted me! Don't you trust me now?" she shrieked.

"Not a bit," Clary said calmly.

"But, Clary!" Calla said softly, her bottom lip trembling. "I'm your friend. I thought you were my friend." She glanced away, looking to the ground as she sobbed.

"Piss off," Jace said bluntly.

Calla looked up at them again, opening her mouth to protest. She saw only a furious Clary and an annoyed Jace – both of whom never wanted to see her again.

A hint of fear penetrated her cold heart, paralysing her sharp wit. "You-you-your mum's fat!" she burst, clapping her hands over her mouth and backing away.

"Clary..." Jace began.

"Done," Clary sang, skipping back from where Calla was running, clutching her red cheek.

Everything was perfect.

* * *

**OK. That last bit was a little cliched. I'll fix it later. Maybe. **

**Anyway, thank you to everyone who's stuck with me throught this story. I love writing, and reviews are just awesome. They're like...awesomeness in fanfiction form. Thank you for all your advice and compliments - everything means so much to me. I swear, more than half of my inbox is filled with email alerts of reviews :D**

**When I started this story, I never imagined so many reviews. Anyway, I'm thinking about doing Maximum Ride fanfic or Skulduggery Pleasant, or maybe just some oneshots. Who knows? **

**Actually, probably Skulduggery Pleasant. My new obsession. And Alice in Wonderland. And Inception. And Sherlock HOlmes. And Rachel McAdams. She's awesome. **

**So. Thank you reviewers and favouriters. It's good to know I made people's days with this :)**

**smileysgoboing**


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